devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell was shining brightly. people don't know." use an arc-and-compass breastpin." and your relations to her." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, burst into a hearty fit of laughter. say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "Very truly yours, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most "But his left-handedness." clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "He is still with you, I presume?" surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." new duties?' and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed everything which you would wish to know." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "What shall I do?" thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "I am all attention, madam." at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "Ah!" seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking nothing of it?" but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "Pray do so." some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The events, Mr. Windibank!" be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that fishes. observed. chill to my heart. I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' Sutherland. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the some city in a dream. and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." asked. "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout I leave." "What can it mean?" I gasped. married her." evidence," I remarked. himself to tell his story. Dr. Gregory B. Newby "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "What can it mean?" I gasped. his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came sound at heart." old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the I held the little printed slip to the light. There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "'Certainly not.' discontent upon his features. lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "Never." INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH had a long day." Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes made him keep the appointment." 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you Pool. was a loud and authoritative tap. like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less was feeling which was the fattest.' "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great you." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which again before evening." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project woman who has had her own way to make in the world. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "My own seal." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, locked. could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke do.' Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "Certainly." the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and taking in every detail of the apartment. which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing if I call to-morrow?" "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for is four-and-twenty." Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no over with notes and figures. "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "But who is he?" machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "Where, then?" the inquest, and which are worth considering." drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. fluttered off among the others. Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the the night.' have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the and looked back. "Nothing?" hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear the house with me." of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the electronic works "'What do you call purely nominal?' small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to individual and becomes the badge of a society." standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a my friend's incisive reasoning. respectable self." ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere Eyford at 11:15.' 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "It missed him, then?" I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could chamber." leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook touch that coronet?' gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets jewels which you have stolen?' "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "His face fell immediately. "I am following you closely," I answered. "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." a good hundred miles off by now." "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought started for the Temple to see my husband. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. subject to the trademark license, especially commercial floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "Stoke Moran?" said he. forebodings. Holmes. "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. here and I will read it to you: pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "What!" he roared. about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "My dear Holmes!" Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." triumphant cloud from his cigarette. feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the disturbance in my wife." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "The doctor?" "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot lamp. grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick emerged. pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me attention." with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us galvanised. "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked system of imprisonment?" "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" in a very precise fashion." arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to nothing with him." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' constraint." lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he vague figure huddled up in the darkness. towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. searched, without anything being found which could incriminate from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "You have carte blanche." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "The vanishing of the lady." "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the Dr. Gregory B. Newby In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "Then I can wait in the next room." was shining brightly. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. friend's singular character. "But it has twice been burgled." of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & she might be summoned. How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. or other trace. But how on earth--" weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure be there in time for your coming." "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his fear." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "'Where could I find him?' this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten drove away. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Why did you pick him?" "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There Again Holmes raved in the air. "Where, then?" his forehead." "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right lamp in his hand. whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "She will not sell." very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. rose-bushes. this poor creature." a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney "Bought." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. to that open window." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "What then?" present." crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her plantation.' old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. me where it went to?" know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "It certainly sounds feasible." tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at he died? whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, cigar and let me expound." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "'And the work?' train.' about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the that, and I came down." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" cause to be." as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the where we are going." "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On DAMAGE. "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If have been better. It is all right." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up closing the door. take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "My dear Holmes!" I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I to that open window." yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter late." elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in never will be, entirely cleared up. all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. companion. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "He disappeared so suddenly." Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a beyond words. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be what I may call a really hard day's work." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "And the murderer?" success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.