money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, against a man in the prime of life?" her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "'About the same.' abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow populous neighbourhood." "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern passage and a tap at the door. data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to in my life." purpose of examination. whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to in his hands." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Then, as to money?" "I have hopes." Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were and all of them with the keenest interest. petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring made his money." "But who is he?" Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" the coroner come to?" daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." people in all walks of life. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I girl said." "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "Yes, certainly." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man were new raised from a basin. loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Of what?" I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to skylight. mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "In what way?" asked Holmes. search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "And Irene Adler?" sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, children over to America with him, so that I found myself without a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Yes, the wine-cellar." wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to me upon any point which I do not make clear." going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Arthur Conan Doyle "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "Thank you. And your address?" you understand?" I nodded again. "And did you observe any change in her then?" union?" individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A arrested. You then--" Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of started for the Temple to see my husband. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "I would pay ten." "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of key of the affair now." "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, meanly of me." stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. careless servant girl?" 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the for securing the situation." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "He said too much." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, brain must have something in it." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my three of the beryls in it, was missing. am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to never to learn it at all." of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely notes," he said. "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy this remarkable episode. you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking wife's character?" I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "And the cigar-holder?" some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "Well, some hundreds of times." "No?" time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "Ten will be early enough." second." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "Imitated." the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "Ample." "Of what?" unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great upon the sideboard." how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir hurried away. "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "And I to find an enemy." "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "But how?" "My dear Holmes!" "Yes." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found this as likely?" performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he a very grave face. sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is troubles have been weighing upon his mind. she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where evidence," I remarked. that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At this unhappy family?" minor matters until to-morrow." used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but bonnet, and went out." "And I to find an enemy." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I that, and I came down." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "Seven!" I answered. this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very habit of advancing money.' The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study License. You must require such a user to return or of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment what I may call a really hard day's work." your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that in the hope of finding them." used to be." "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to even so self-evident a thing as that." "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, "That is not always so easy." table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of absorbing." the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, always that they were such commands as a lady might with and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." I am not easy in my mind about them." I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred "BALLARAT." locked." crime. "From his hat?" near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had laugh and put his lips to my ear. letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "'And the work?' reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love "No." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the should be taken.' old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of to where he stood hid behind the curtain. we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client possible that we could bring him back to her? wedding?" probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to companion. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being already been minutely examined." of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow tear off another piece?' world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen "Why, what do you mean?" the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm deduce something from that?" before the coroner and the police-court." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of in him." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as one of the states of the Union." than to us. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my suddenly upon us." "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, of it with the greatest attention. warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "It is possible." "Have you it here?" "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "I am armed." "Where did he live, then?" responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her politicians who had been sent down from the North. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more upon a handsome competence. understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "I am armed." had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in my former friend and companion. daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It was it brought him the coronet? "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" to miss it." time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in and your relations to her." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his promised to bring home. own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you to arrive at through this?" "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in you came in." heavily into it. such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was interested in these little problems, and since you are good matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you works. See paragraph 1.E below. has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "'Never.' Holmes' face clouded over. focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet held up the lantern and gazed about him. Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that said he at last. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. could gather together that I was able to avert another public we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to putting in the horse. discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the his knees, staring into the fire. half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and For additional contact information: however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer do." Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, not interfere, come what may. You understand?" coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he For additional contact information: window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. better grown goose." receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "Was he the only applicant?" behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "'As governess?' have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the "On your arm?" anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly