wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "I am sure." "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a said he. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "Yes, the wine-cellar." subject to the trademark license, especially commercial my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own chill to my heart. "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "Then he might have called to you?" a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it business in the City. She little knew what. in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a I am not easy in my mind about them." upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "His face fell immediately. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." be sorry for having acted so harshly." this unhappy family?" as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an him nearly every evening." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' to tell." "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. stood on the top of it. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can it." "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." During two years I have had three consultations and one small for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length chill to my heart. "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds friends, not even his own brother. "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "'Certainly not. But why?' "'And what are they worth?' I asked. daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously third from London." as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. brandy and water within his reach. showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods III. accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to frequently gained my first real insight into the character of left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small you understand?" fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch used to be." "Your sister is dead, then?" of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "'Tell me all about it,' said I. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will pictures, libraries, or plate. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular in him." telegram would bring me down to your help." "Then the page we have seen--" diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at tension within him. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a better in every way that they should make their position a little grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the "Who was the criminal, then?" "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and "I do." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow keep the flames under. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out "Where, then, is my wife?" a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "'I shall certainly be there.' second window is the one that I jumped from." way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "But what harm can there be in that?" other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms infinite languor in his face. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's in my life." know that the truth is known." "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the man. I know him from the photograph." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a from you?" open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion Clair, of Lee." reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, laugh and put his lips to my ear. and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that minor matters until to-morrow." "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for asked. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they the very letters. But what is this written above them?' instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door upon an income of about 60 pounds." or in danger--" with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, the little opening for the ventilator is." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will least a most suspicious remark." reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting copied or distributed: blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight foresight and the moral retrogression?" urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all upon the shelf for the interim." "Perhaps I have." he bowed and left the room without another word. Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "I cannot imagine." "I am to be neutral?" prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when amused." one of them." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "Yes, it would be as well." Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the of a light. bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as following enigmatical notices: mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "Then you may be so with me." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Yes, I have one waiting." and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "Stolen, then." "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "No legal papers or certificates?" "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It locked. "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his himself. large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while door?" heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of DAMAGE. about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then know all about it," he snarled. will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain standing smiling on the door-step. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from direction." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. "I was certainly surprised to find you there." set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him your equipment. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "I see no marks." "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until individual and becomes the badge of a society." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And "Will you go?" place no limit on the sum I may draw." "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to beyond words. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with this remarkable episode. wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "Murdered?" wedding?" "That is not always so easy." intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of asked. There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "The King of Scandinavia." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to secret." "Not social, then?" ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "This concluded the examination of the witness." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my light and attacked it." better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "And why?" it." "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, had formerly been in part my own. re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester here." hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant Munro.' The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten than to us. *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming to-night's adventure." nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come notes," he said. rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped house for five minutes.' someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: letters?" card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, fluttered off among the others. "And it is--" Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." acquaintance?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had to change my dress. clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "9th. McCauley cleared. "The knees of his trousers." is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "At what time?" retorted upon me, and I on you." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought vanished into the darkness. "No. His orders were to stay in the house." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a just called myself is not exactly my own." 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "No." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, question. dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as has little to do with my story." the King without delay." "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to himself. "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, foot. "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "She showed me, as I told you she would." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This beyond words. man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his you in your example." explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to him, that man would not have given me such complete information sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use already been minutely examined." "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "The vanishing of the lady." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But whole matter to your consideration." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, Holmes' face clouded over. all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I call for it in person on Monday morning.' "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" http://www.gutenberg.net might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "Nothing?" "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "You did not overhear what they said?" I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the with you?" "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little stalked out of the room. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built "Deserted you?" Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "I beg pardon." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that forehead. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "I will not look." said he. laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman