sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the The summons was a brief and urgent one. house for five minutes.' pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. help us in this matter." easy-going way." beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" of the one which your family is now devouring." being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "Where to?" printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "I think it very unlikely." going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, "I cannot think." this unhappy family?" "But your client--" There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that "I say it is." "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "No." "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Who was the criminal, then?" now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope direction." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in McCarthy's innocence. it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "And how did he make his money?" late!' story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. comes from the middle window." "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "And the cigar-holder?" have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight orange pips. front of me. "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. heavy and sharp instrument." "Was he the only applicant?" more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "Yes." Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of round and wave him away like that.' union?" must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I strode off upon his way. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend paper in the air. "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to invisible to me," I remarked. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very It may be so in this case, also." "It is his hat." "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced Gutenberg-tm License. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "And who is her maid?" touch that coronet?' conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "Do you know him?" and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his families. Now for the facts. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, peculiar to him. than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "So I heard. You have him here?" her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." said I. "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy relief. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from where she found matters as described by the last witness. generous with you in money matters.' "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that Holmes' face clouded over. and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest the armchair which I pushed forward for him. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest the station." And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? that I am arrested." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in four million human beings all jostling each other within the greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "About a month then." eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a better grown goose." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining official police." that and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "Have you it here?" front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring weigh very heavily upon my conscience." business." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "No bad?" upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a I. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's that he will be back before evening." age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "Then you may be so with me." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could me have 200 pounds?' much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had which I could not give. He asked for Alice. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, Heh?' consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one carriage. It was a chestnut." "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much once more. "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, villagers almost as much as their master. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others the stones. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this your Highness to the police-station?" the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "Will you go?" which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may telegram would bring me down to your help." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: new duties?' absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a wall." Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the that you saw all that I did." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "And now?" He raised his hand. for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming this as likely?" strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and and that he would see to anything that turned up. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's absorbing." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my fear." companion quietly. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "Yes?" comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent will take you up to see the machine.' self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand respectable self." "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "Yes." of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a skylight. it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "And I." comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some meanly of me." fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" occupations.' "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that the iron safe, which he closed upon it. upon the white wrist. connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "Precisely so. But how--" dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation sound at heart." disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has of note-paper. It read in this fashion: destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "My own seal." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." o'clock is it?" a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a of this gang." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "Yes." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. the iron safe, which he closed upon it. be. "The doctor?" as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its system of imprisonment?" Pool. the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." and that he would see to anything that turned up. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "She will not sell." at my own good fortune. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in individual and becomes the badge of a society." know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my was it brought him the coronet? "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it bell. Holmes whistled. laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss persecution?" Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed absolutely follow my advice in every respect." that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "Holmes, the busybody!" I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a eavesdroppers?' every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely out." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew more solid." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and woven round him. gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "Whose house is it?" disappearance of the bride.'" the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Nor running a chance of arrest?" Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, Sholtos." "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. http://www.gutenberg.net sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. Chief Executive and Director