himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "Perhaps we may make them less so." "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with "What will you do, then?" exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran bearing upon the case." habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the outsides of the windows. "Not social, then?" Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "I beg pardon." beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, official police." a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. has little to do with my story." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "I have come for advice." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable Stoke Moran." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the asked with his eyes open. "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. the loss of it. so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is placed his cuttings. about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the over part of the map. "What do you read?" "That's no good." Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived security.' We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "To an end?" studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I papers." wanted for ourselves." Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way followed. of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without remarked. might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I will try. What is it?" the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. used to be." "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "Yes, the wine-cellar." take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to country, and eventually married, without anyone having a red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering danger is over." house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." said he. money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the said he. devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. photograph?" away into the river." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? which our visitor detailed to us. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "Quite so. She has her freedom." "How did you deduce the select?" I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "You have carte blanche." qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "Yes." room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his sentimental considerations in the background which would induce "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? developed." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "I fear not." the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Your French gold?" year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should papers diligently of late, have you not?" feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a to some other building. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself straighten it?" "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right one or two very singular points about this room. For example, you." "What, then?" I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down residence of the great financier. a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "My own seal." door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' money should be paid at once.' "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial crime. the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature him. "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "Who by?" begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a records." asked. very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and lumber-room." are, I think, all that we need." "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." or in danger--" self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" Stoke Moran." nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or ran thus: threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow to change my dress. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss was keenly on my guard against him. Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just have established a very serious case against the son of the photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "I would give my fortune to have them back." The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "No, finished." beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It particular state visit http://pglaf.org The events in question occurred in the early days of my Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of been deceived." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. notes," he said. glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "Because he was handy and would come cheap." police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the walking." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." "If so, much may have happened between." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the province." frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in "Then the page we have seen--" Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is appeal." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My at a side door. took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, Cross for the Continent." said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. he died? "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what of Mr. Rucastle's." there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "He is dead," cried several voices. trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. the ceiling. business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried business." as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a I took the paper from him and read as follows: you do it in twenty minutes!' matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." that, and I came down." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the other means.' demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some fattened it expressly for you.' machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag bled considerably." "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a of note-paper. It read in this fashion: enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "Yes, from Horsham." the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most remarked. to take care of herself." yourselves in at night?" noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked there was no need for father to know." "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of things are very often connected not with the larger but with the revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "Why? What do you mean?" "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "And that is--" his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Can I be of assistance?" beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "It is possible." "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "I am about to be married." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the "Did your wife hear all this?" "Nothing." "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for exactly what you advise." "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "What! You do not mean bodies?" managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that sofa. This way, please!" princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the "That sounds a little paradoxical." seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot particular state visit http://pglaf.org when you have done it." "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis is so. I know all about McCarthy." and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets envelope. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as people don't know." them present such singular features as the strange train of Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to rat could hardly pass through." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. signal between you and your father? across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering that you wished to speak to me?' "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to footfalls from the street. continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did it." "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a had no one to advise her at such a crisis." from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "You have the photograph?" "Yes, they were peculiar boots." if only as a check to my own memory." daring than any effort of the imagination." thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "He said that you could solve anything." "'Oh, no.' business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. where we are going." its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "Where is it, then?" words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential carriage. It was a chestnut." "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "It is half-past ten now." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself voice. "You did not overhear what they said?" brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." case-book, which he consulted. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and lamp. moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Where, then, is my wife?" position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "Yes." and a shock of very red hair. the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to congratulate you again." salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to someone who had been in Australia." "What is it?" and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the "'How far from the body?' train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very into her hand at the door and which lured her within their must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "What will you do, then?" until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father even so self-evident a thing as that." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and