Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I You want to know what became of those geese?" arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through lids now and glanced across at his visitor. surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home outbreak?" address. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, come either from the window or the door. My attention was in my life." the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned the very morning of the wedding." were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father memory. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should your billet.' article?" with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "He is still with you, I presume?" "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Entirely." mystery." standing smiling on the door-step. criminal. We have already had experience of such." I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who six. Come in!" neither fascinating nor artistic." married her." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "What! Had he lost his wife?" years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far him, that man would not have given me such complete information "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his Pope's Court. remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the with the outside air!" was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, shaken than I had ever seen him. "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or whether it answered to the description of any of their late!' sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use him nearly every evening." train from Paddington which would bring you there at about he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "What will you do, then?" man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just For additional contact information: this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. he died? And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom she might be summoned. fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, definite end. look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for leave you to your papers for a little." my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "You have the photograph?" "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by This is what he says: call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black at my remark. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me nice household for a young lady." chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which think that any burglar could have done. He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. returned to France?" slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I should be taken.' "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of me upon any point which I do not make clear." The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The at home. could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "We must have a cab." even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "Well?" "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put strong reason behind." supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Yes." given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "And from a noble client?" years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had and wait." hurried away. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "Ha! you find it so?" number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for past. description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we "'Where to?' "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear perplexity from it to my illustrious client. note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" Holmes' face clouded over. his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed "Who was the criminal, then?" "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your prisoner's face. had a long day." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, the driver. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." anything to do with the matter?" face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly the matter." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "Precisely." no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of anything to a woman, for she would have her way." while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through of note-paper. It read in this fashion: the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit into the bag, and made for the door. "I never have." the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "'What do you call purely nominal?' streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. whatever might befall. ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed make me his representative both with the servants and with the to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary prove to be little relation between the different incidents of freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open round with crates and massive boxes. I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and at my own good fortune. my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! my friend's incisive reasoning. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the good for you to do.' which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing article?" ago." have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." have not had my rubber." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for humiliation." the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in "When did she vanish, then?" money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new have accepted such a situation. really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "'It is locked up,' I answered. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "It is to him that this trophy belongs." right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "Pray do so." here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a a room. Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of posted to-day." certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes The telegram which we eventually received came late one night all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "What?" with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it away into the river." accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying to a light-house. him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There be sorry for having acted so harshly." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar acquaintance?" "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "Never." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "'Not at all. I only doubt--' astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom this as likely?" breakfast?" common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "And now?" He raised his hand. "How are you getting on?" danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "Never." old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "I cannot as yet see any connection." he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "Then I am your man." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with grasp, he hurried from the room. main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by where we are going." cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "It is his hat." the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in of receipt of the work. "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." where she found matters as described by the last witness. "VIOLET HUNTER." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, only touch the interest." say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But client, rising. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very occupations.' child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "Witness: It was. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "None." said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think forecastle of an emigrant ship. "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you at my own good fortune. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery singular points about the case. What did the police think of the his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK learned something! Where are the gems?" was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are lamp in his hand. "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms main points of my analysis." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow when your master had gone out." a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "Yes?" and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new head. So long, then!" always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in have accepted such a situation. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "What will you say?" was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "But how could you guess what the motive was?" all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" her also." shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. you." "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes