"This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very results." "And leave your case unfinished?" correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Foundation the bed, and you in that chair." and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition as this. Pray let me have the details." It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he shadow pass over his face as I spoke. have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. when you have done it." God! What an exposure! What can I do?" corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so I shall continue with my miserable story. "So it appears." "An accident, I presume?" "A client, then?" the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at and the church but not where the lady lived." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "10th. John Swain cleared. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "ARAT," I read. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "At the wedding breakfast." "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and stood on the top of it. made his money." with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence instincts rose up against that laugh. there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it said Mr. Holder. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' through." have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Bought." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness "Yes, from Horsham." Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy keep the flames under. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup simple cases which are so extremely difficult." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and results." front of me. "No, distinctly professional." you." say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than possible that we could bring him back to her? until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "Upon what point?" "Pray be precise as to details," said he. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he this man was intellectual?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That you?' police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for from you?" "Your presence might be invaluable." "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only been shamefully used." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "Precisely so. But how--" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "'What then?' I asked. himself to hunt down. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of God! What an exposure! What can I do?" shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert and wait." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I felt the room to be a little close.' one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend both be extremely obliged.' villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average the driver. another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business Eyford." "No, my brougham is waiting." It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped heavy and sharp instrument." been." "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. might have a private word with us. the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing both be extremely obliged.' comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "I have come for advice." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just point in the dark hollow of his hand. instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was woman who has had her own way to make in the world. there in twenty minutes." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' for and were ordered to this address. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "I have seen the police." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was "Did he not advertise?" more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true how narrow had been my escape. A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still wedding?" on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "Is he quiet?" this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to triumphant cloud from his cigarette. ago." finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who come either from the window or the door. My attention was "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a Does that suggest anything?" hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "Yes." of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a furiously. "'Then let me do so?' "Can I be of assistance?" that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" crime." be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of McCarthy." "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin Eyford." "But his left-handedness." with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been wedding?" "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my but preventing her from injuring another. surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. shoulder; "he's all right." platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly the house with me." promised to bring home. same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the his forehead." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed is now desirous of getting those letters back." of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "Will you go?" "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "And your father? Did you tell him?" had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. the iron safe, which he closed upon it. which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "I would give my fortune to have them back." whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "'I have heard so.' "And did you observe any change in her then?" "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "It may not come to that," said Holmes. inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "'About the same.' "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the to his chemical studies. frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not breakfast and whispered something to her husband. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. heavily into it. they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' some water from a caraffe. Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "She walked into the breakfast-room." advice." expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip chill to my heart. advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper he bowed and left the room without another word. came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I must compliment you." "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and you." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "What is it, then--a fire?" without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I new acquaintance to Baker Street. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would invisible to me," I remarked. have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "Then what has happened to him?" possible that we could bring him back to her? This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than photograph a cabinet?" wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! writing, and yet I know it well." upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." the house with me." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to comes from the middle window." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she to Leatherhead. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my business." "I think that it is very probable." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking morning." "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. mystery may be cleared along those lines." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the dramatic, in fact." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here your bag." "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about was not a bird to be seen there. "It is half-past ten now." The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock on re-entering her father's house?" "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "I shall be delighted." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "Where, then?" does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself may have an influence upon European history." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" more terrible than the truth. access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "But she will refuse." air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "I am sure." "I cannot think." "Was there a secret marriage?" not use it unless it is absolutely needed." relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. is now desirous of getting those letters back." fashion which was peculiar to him. thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "'Oh, no.' Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be neither fascinating nor artistic." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as not fit the lock." willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled purpose of examination. Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar Street. he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There sneer upon his pale face. the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "And Irene Adler?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without cigar and let me expound." to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were it means?" entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself