them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each the dangers which encompass me." "You were travelling in the States?" slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "Not I." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. impression behind it as though a window had gently closed there was no need for father to know." Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the locked." result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, guilty parties." been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were strode off upon his way. "The Coroner: What do you mean? "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are eat it." sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "Will you go?" see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "What! You do not mean bodies?" any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "Yes." "Where, then, is my wife?" "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open helping a boy to put up the shutters. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "I cannot tell." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, characteristics, but those are the more obvious." for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "But you have hopes?" tear off another piece?' "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "No." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional think that he is innocent?" previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert here and I will read it to you: point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about hair?' "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution stammered. "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He the very morning of the wedding." metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to think you a quite exceptional woman." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' lost nothing by them." comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I room had already been engaged for us. knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "'And the work?' spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present seem to you to be relevant or not." mystery may be cleared along those lines." us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, directors have had misgivings upon the subject." Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "And you can do nothing until then?" pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your Chief Executive and Director plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. me. did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I foresight and the moral retrogression?" "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm the running down." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do she used." "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity Sutherland. fashion which was peculiar to him. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that skylight. spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your which was all perfectly true. and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When breakfast?" "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "Stolen, then." easy-going way." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "'Most admirably.' constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "'Which dealer's?' leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. eat it." is worth.' certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a information in his hands the value of which he did not himself the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "Yes?" were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled to tell." to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide once more. word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A him. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel been lifted and conveyed somewhere." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "She told me to ask you." woven round him. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs as the one I chose?' "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "You have compromised yourself seriously." side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from place no limit on the sum I may draw." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom http://www.gutenberg.net said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by Project Gutenberg-tm works. "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "But you can know nothing of this?" The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "Yes." I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend possible that we could bring him back to her? have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in showing my impatience. "His face fell immediately. were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "'As governess?' Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, photograph?" He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of flock.' them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Ah, but I was recommended to you." Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated to-night?' she might be summoned. hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "It is his hat." Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe cheerful." there is a decided draught." our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging know that the truth is known." "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was least a fellow-countryman. nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "Not him." Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "Well, it is a possible supposition." look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "Tired-looking or fresh?" "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Dr. Becher's." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was to-night." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I his cane at the bell-pull. home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "She showed me, as I told you she would." it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must he. mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told quick march!" what is your own theory as to what took place?" "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black your room." "Oh, fresh and glossy." back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project the Red-headed League." memory. terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring are, I think, all that we need." papers diligently of late, have you not?" lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in God! What an exposure! What can I do?" rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "But of what society?" guilty parties." careless servant girl?" this Miss Turner." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as fire. You quite follow me?" justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." in the dead of the night?' "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as what do you think they found in the pockets?" the date of his supposed suicide." take the flies, but not before." black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right is so. I know all about McCarthy." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. him and tried to hold him back. him." astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he at my remark. "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. careless servant girl?" near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four "On the contrary, this is the right side." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "Certainly." skylight. very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "And it is--" him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet voice, changing her seat as requested. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "What is it?" makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. delighted to hear it," he said. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. we went to search for him, face downward in a little could gather together that I was able to avert another public sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on been shamefully used." "Yes, that is the Crown." "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to in a friendly supper." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. with you alone." "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, of fine shops and stately business premises that they really Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his who was a member of your goose club." for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "It is possible." homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar constraint." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the and your relations to her." were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight matter over." "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which awkward doing business with an alias." reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the gentleman's clothes. housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable it means?" "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you wall." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "By all means." danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "I guessed as much." his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "'Why that?' I asks. away into the river." be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs Pope's Court, Fleet Street." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "'I shall certainly be there.' Holmes. the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way back to my heart. would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing "'Which dealer's?' The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "But what will you do?" seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "'You doubt its value?' he asked. ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is into the room. Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "Have you her photograph?" Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it any." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common