said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a your sleep?' look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining in my life." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of four million human beings all jostling each other within the and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some narrative." strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must problems help me to do so." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "He said that you could solve anything." my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased the south-west, I see." "Then you may entirely rely on me." "I say it is." John Swain, of St. Augustine. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "You think that he is dead?" Leadenhall Street--and--" "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "Breckinridge is his name." other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As in your London, you will know that the office of the company is disturbance in my wife." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "'Stolen!' he cried. doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway late!' estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "Then I am your man." and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the sufficient punishment." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a disappearance of these gems?" accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door all-comprehensive glances. 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "'Yes, I promise.' trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the Eyford." Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since "Quite so." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and seem to you to be relevant or not." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "'Certainly not.' "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit paper in the air. found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really was keenly on my guard against him. had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "The landlord of the Alpha." It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "'Ten to two.' "What is it, then--a fire?" He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any you, my dear young lady?' the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "How long did she speak to this Alice?" allusion to a rat. points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free your Highness to the police-station?" observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face your only hope of safety." the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Witness: I must still refuse. bird I ate is country bred." the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the some water from a caraffe. workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "Won't it ring?" uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger some water from a caraffe. time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of third from London." "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the a suggestive one." "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you handed it to him. "So I am. Very much so." "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "Will you bet, then?" gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "An enemy?" the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside me. You must get home instantly and act." photograph a cabinet?" "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your shoulder; "he's all right." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, interest. They are important, you understand, without being hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned you." submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "It's nothing of the kind." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. and all of them with the keenest interest. there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers touch that coronet?' sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over prisoner's face. "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save things are very often connected not with the larger but with the specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded chill to my heart. you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "It is true that I have been generally successful." Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "'Quite sure, dad.' calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible nights." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "And on what day did he meet his death?" Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in indiscretion." suspect him." who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "Yes, I have one waiting." sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his "The landlord of the Alpha." it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. "That was it, sir." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. that you can jump it.' IS that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking himself. grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes fear." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in entirely lost his self-respect." and all of them with the keenest interest. town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the floor. It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the passage and a tap at the door. "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" leaning back in his chair. moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her awkward doing business with an alias." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house posted to-day." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this only touch the interest." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "It is a murder, then?" something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "A confidential servant?" speckled band?" have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United I shall continue with my miserable story. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself she used." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was forbidden door. "One?" is worth.' unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." the King without delay." "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "Thank you. Pray proceed." the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "Game for a morning drive?" favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as people don't know." cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On "'Certainly,' I answered. "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one miles off. rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "An enemy?" maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We back alive. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "He said that you could solve anything." relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, retorted upon me, and I on you." of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." miles off. "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who national property. I was determined that the law should have its "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "My last client of the sort was a king." I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he strength." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie like gravel from a pit.' "One horse?" interjected Holmes. opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. your room." guilty parties." tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know gone. of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" sparkled upon his finger. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently Heh?' out of this horrible affair." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "When did it break out?" "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray things are very often connected not with the larger but with the or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "'I shall certainly be there.' "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "And sit in the dark?" "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "No?" heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given annoyance, but no jest. "Yes, sir." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "Certainly, madam." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution obstinate." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; helping a boy to put up the shutters. some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely my special province." the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but not use it unless it is absolutely needed." like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "No." held up the lantern and gazed about him. conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "That is possible." suddenly upon us." the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "Texas, I think." companion. have got?" I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him window when the police appeared." back into the street. layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at