brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "We must sit without light. He would see it through the better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his conduct the inquiry." Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could at home. brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring that there was nothing in it, after all." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it amused." hand, madam?" furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is in my life." I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were in his hands." it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life Holmes." Henry Baker is a member." III. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "No good news?" the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "On Monday." stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so lids now and glanced across at his visitor. from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their was not a bird to be seen there. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. best detective that ever lived. are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." promised to bring home. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the fire. You quite follow me?" precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' intimate personal affairs in this public manner." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded of." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "Then I am your man." her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Pray tell us what has happened to you." half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his the station." It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "Perfectly so." pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman perplexity from it to my illustrious client. rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Do you go out much in society?" "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook prepare for the new role I have to play." the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner fear." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, matter." what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. south, for the country is more deserted there." week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "Holmes, the busybody!" were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "I have hopes." to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "No, but the enclosure is." discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my said he. "How did you deduce the select?" used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I money should be paid at once.' woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "But she could not love him." voice, changing her seat as requested. refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "The Cedars?" "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "It is solved." when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help photograph?" of his shoulders. page at http://pglaf.org unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very opened the door, and slipped through. seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "I beg pardon." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' true." has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "You are hungry," I remarked. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most posted to-day." "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and families. Now for the facts. might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "Ample." above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over too. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "I cannot as yet see any connection." a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "Stolen." "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was one of the states of the Union." the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "What then?" such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were strong reason behind." will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "I have come for advice." everything which you would wish to know." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful to have that photograph." "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts both be extremely obliged.' for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it tell them apart.' collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. you." for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "How are you getting on?" offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; I approached. object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the been anything against him. He had for years been known as a I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the Foundation "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For which our visitor detailed to us. appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the the inner apartment." from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, bearing upon the case." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "But he might be a bachelor." suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "'There is a drive, then?' "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken said I. "Certainly, madam." it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after the stable lane now." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. thought that she would have been so carried away." afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I nothing of it?" pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "But you would not advise me to refuse?" ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. like that before?" way in." "Yes, all." police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "'Stolen!' he cried. in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project brandy and water within his reach. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and sake, don't!" belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of outside." "What will you do, then?" floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich which it had come upon my father." request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This morning." in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Could he throw no light?" wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay gbnewby@pglaf.org to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are as yours." By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. once more to my work. when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and went to the Alpha were town bred." investigation." "Not particularly." allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried John Swain, of St. Augustine. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, third from London." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his to a light-house. the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "And I to find an enemy." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock felt?" pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking do." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "No." that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy swore that no one else had been in the front room during the arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Ten will be early enough." to have been novel and of interest." tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" get the tickets." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced feature." the matter." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "I cannot as yet see any connection." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the the date of his supposed suicide." "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "I have come for advice." This is what he says: the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose question," said Holmes, smiling. We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police business." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. me. You must get home instantly and act." clanging. questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled on re-entering her father's house?" case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "Then I can wait in the next room." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "'As governess?' "One of his hands." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "Of Friday, June 19th." with you?" read over the extraordinary announcement. Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "But I am all in the dark." congenial hunt. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far to tell." Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "That is it on the dressing-table." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There You want to know what became of those geese?" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a in one or two places in England?' "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight eavesdroppers?' I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew again on its way. "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is lumber-room." "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their But Holmes shook his head gravely. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back have not had my rubber." him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, guilty parties." little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "'It is locked up,' I answered. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office