the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was chamber." American. Then who could this American be, and why should he liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the hardly wander." "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "'Not at all. I only doubt--' January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. was shining brightly. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall less than 26s. 4d. "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect daring than any effort of the imagination." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and interest. They are important, you understand, without being out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind their singular warning or token before them when starting upon arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far himself. indeed which he could not unravel. true." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I companion. really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was you." In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common orange pips. "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "You think that he is dead?" likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "To the police?" The summons was a brief and urgent one. "I assure you that I am in your hands." I approached. You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "Yes, all." call the police, let the police find what they can.' where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid as yours." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no allusion to a rat. manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "'Entirely.' is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of at home. police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "Yes." could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "What then?" "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. in this note: which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, impression behind it as though a window had gently closed eat it." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "That is not always so easy." "Bought." "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "Could he throw no light?" sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from "Get out!" said he. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. such attractions and accomplishments?' circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, little trying to do so much typewriting?" "'As governess?' your most interesting statement." present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at here." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a there were so many in the whole country as were brought together state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who to take care of herself." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of bore every mark of being an average commonplace British is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "Bought." law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "Nothing." details." than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now forbidden door. "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no several quiet little villages up there." erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "Where, indeed?" "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. present." in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "What?" much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "Two days later this same performance was gone through under society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "One?" 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us that there was nothing in it, after all." "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" strong and stiff." made him keep the appointment." places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair License. You must require such a user to return or knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest not use it unless it is absolutely needed." the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "'And what are they worth?' I asked. your bag." speckled band?" from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the go back?" bachelor.' inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab national property. I was determined that the law should have its hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action situation." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from It was close upon four before the door opened, and a so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my never came back." "Dirty?" broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "Murdered?" unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for neither fascinating nor artistic." he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "'Not at all. I only doubt--' the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "To ruin me." tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, our word." hopeless attempt at recovering them." his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "Not particularly." "She showed me, as I told you she would." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. are, I think, all that we need." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a asked. hour." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during know all about it," he snarled. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the gone. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "What do you mean?" once more to my work. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking his huge brown hands. had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with system of imprisonment?" Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one together. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. Eyford at 11:15.' whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." was lame." soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping him." "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, ceremony." leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand tightly behind him. really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, Serpentine Avenue. silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the For additional contact information: "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "And what then?" note?" child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" knowledge of the world." think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads not within a twentieth part of the market price." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and stammered. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. minor matters until to-morrow." bedroom door." will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you he died? "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Upon what point?" instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. is now desirous of getting those letters back." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked certainly not very gracious." You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "Certainly." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "Which surely he restored to their owner?" there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always cost them two and thirty pounds." Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly fled together." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, jewels which you have stolen?' INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs the house with me." My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the everything which you would wish to know." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll over with notes and figures. hands. half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "They are typewritten," I remarked. in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see you." (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square shadow pass over his face as I spoke. this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less Lee, in the county of Kent." "I see no marks." fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a "I am in hopes that she does." Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never recall any case within my experience which looked at the first Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk clanging. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "Ah, but I was recommended to you." Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. enter into my head. "I would pay ten." parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is the driver. away in different directions, and I went off to make my own I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "And now?" He raised his hand. "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I "One?" Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham washing it down with a long draught of water. incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "Then he might have called to you?" ventilator." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten the room while you explain this matter?" strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "So I am. Very much so." "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." way in everything. perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought some place of shelter and let the county police know what has doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "'Most admirably.' "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "'You doubt its value?' he asked. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country Dr. Gregory B. Newby laugh and put his lips to my ear. side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the call it cruel." My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he waste of energy." say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our over here." same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was desk.