"And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, note?" out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and populous neighbourhood." pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "The decline of his fortunes, then?" written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been depend upon my doing so.' and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Then I am your man." the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if status with the IRS. providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "What will you say?" "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the tail." he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But said he. for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his geese which you supplied to the Alpha." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "Witness: It was. read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have such person." "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord chamber." whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "What I expected to see." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "I have come for advice." turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." http://gutenberg.net/license). "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly papers." companion. envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the if only as a check to my own memory." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an one of them." that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "That sounds a little paradoxical." "By all means." been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their ways of our fellow-men." "'I have already given you my word.' affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "To ruin me." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, money should be paid at once.' someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, McCarthy's innocence. every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "In answer to an advertisement." his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "Dirty?" goes." copied or distributed: that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "Upon what point?" developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "He slept on the premises." "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "If I can be of use." Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What this Miss Turner." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the into the room. "Breckinridge is his name." "Absolutely?" Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old front of the hall door has given its name to the place. King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back "Pray let us have it, for all that." The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in was a loud and authoritative tap. your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was not, dad?" she asked. to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Yes, it would be as well." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He cheerful." "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his forehead. at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The corner of the building. traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, Again Holmes raved in the air. tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, all?" "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we may have an influence upon European history." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of joking. "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. his eyes and forehead. "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee cheerful." in a friendly supper." "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "Dr. Becher's." meant." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should which are rolled in Rotterdam." corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my you in your example." girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed crackling voice. tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "And leave your case unfinished?" brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would and no precautions can guard against." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have the salesman. This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are subject to the trademark license, especially commercial us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack page at http://pglaf.org pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from back to my heart. a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace had formerly been in part my own. "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." six. Come in!" and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he strange features which were associated with the two crimes which the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "Certainly." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands room. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up business." is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and ordinary clothes on?" King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "'Then let me do so?' were new raised from a basin. "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "Nothing?" clang of the bell. akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." cigars in their mouths. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "But we can't all be." "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "How about poison?" my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to means taking possession of that which another person has a prior appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs gone. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been to a more successful conclusion." abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I "And help." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "No bad?" "Yes, he did." the devil!" instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Of what day?" them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely upon a handsome competence. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have works. See paragraph 1.E below. thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose congratulate you again." to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly sake, don't!" McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg written. "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking the matter?" "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of front of me. King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "Oh, the cause is excellent!" half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been not interfere, come what may. You understand?" the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "But to whom?" have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed round and wave him away like that.' then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I clanging. speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this events, Mr. Windibank!" those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be touch that coronet?' shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls details should find their way into the papers. Inspector was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "And Miss Sutherland?" "'I am sure if I had known--' "Yes." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "Nothing?" Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which asked. 'I should be able to look after that for you.' out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was "I warn you that they are very incomplete." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that the coroner come to?" housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "Was the window open?" I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and http://www.gutenberg.net invisible to me," I remarked. Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "A greater distance to travel." "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are in the port of London." process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "'Yes, I promise.' a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "Pray do so." "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "That was it, sir." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable time." his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, Stoke Moran." "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Seven!" I answered. Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or developed." Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "The Cedars?" be. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the gives a meaning to it." affair. how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. drove away. detained." company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then call for it in person on Monday morning.' in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new it right.' towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to "Yes, it would be as well." the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet relation between them, and what the object of his repeated