I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery door?" errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate in the dead of the night?' stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and annoyance, but no jest. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A strode off upon his way. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but and looked back. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the of receipt of the work. best detective that ever lived. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "ARAT," I read. and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "'A dozen yards or so.' caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated are windows in it, of course?" "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his bears upon the case?" A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then investigation." there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his you." assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The forehead. against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. third from London." from you?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was reach." they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" shoulder; "he's all right." "None." object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has villagers almost as much as their master. her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it investigation." becomes even more simple." "The landlord of the Alpha." you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "But what will you do?" stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to rat could hardly pass through." Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately distance from the station, and there we found the young lady profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the question," said Holmes, smiling. I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, ordinary clothes on?" certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite it." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, and laid it on the table. afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no excitement. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for standing smiling on the door-step. are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "Get out!" said he. from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and to where he stood hid behind the curtain. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, of this gang." for and were ordered to this address. Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. call it cruel." with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first me." over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. conclusions. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular laugh and put his lips to my ear. "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, "No." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "I should wish to." "But his lameness?" "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he man. of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold fatally injured? "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "I promise," said Holmes. case-book, which he consulted. "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "What have you to say now?" the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." the tragedy. existence." "You don't mind breaking the law?" pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked existence." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish assist you in forming an opinion." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the outsides of the windows. the Assizes." matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in have I gained?" presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I cost them two and thirty pounds." "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "'What, the red-headed man?' received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the and wait." teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found http://www.gutenberg.net undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt she to prove their authenticity?" cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as easy-going way." "The doctor?" leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. said he. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side over part of the map. "What do you read?" claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "My opinion is in no way altered." "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client information in his hands the value of which he did not himself relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do investigation." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of events, Mr. Windibank!" examine." clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Always." salesman. clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was matter over." "To ruin me." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these tell them apart.' "None. Neville wrote those words." "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest meanly of me." "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came breakfast?" "Yes." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I the station." intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every and prosperity to your house. Good-night." more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his them, and came down just as you departed. leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of golden eyeglasses. credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to will be renamed. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very was once confined in the cab my mission was practically the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, look upon these things in a different way." may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "No." "But what is it you wish?" realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you confronted him. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I guilty one." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his as noiselessly as she had come. correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who visitors." and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of attention." "No." daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with overpowering excitement and concern. as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "It is no ordinary one." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Get out!" said he. their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all it with his own hands." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and chair. feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, the coronet in his hand?" however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "But his left-handedness." "Certainly." bird of prey. caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop head. So long, then!" time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman both be extremely obliged.' "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the compunction about shooting them down." which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "What will you say?" and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "Never." me have 200 pounds?' will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good any." one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "Was she in good spirits?" your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed you." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from chance." country, and eventually married, without anyone having a to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling hair?' in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the other means.' "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said acquaintance?" Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." security.' rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of second." door?" exactly what you advise." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "Certainly." freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his compunction about shooting them down." drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Well." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could helping a boy to put up the shutters. staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "Where is it, then?" very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend always that they were such commands as a lady might with Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were exactly what you advise." Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. astonishment. bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers chance at all." thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set "And your father? Did you tell him?" article?" electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "Then how many are there?" dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be astonishment. me. You must get home instantly and act." "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. papers diligently of late, have you not?" "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over habit of advancing money.' it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my made his money." presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." writer." absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Countess of Morcar's?" the very morning of the wedding." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly at my own good fortune. house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for existence." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, directly by questioning you." Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that intimate personal affairs in this public manner." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, sparkled upon his finger. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the in a friendly supper." The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached