strong reason behind." the dangers which encompass me." whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "And what did you learn from him?" "So I heard. You have him here?" across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of respectable self." Where does the thing come from?' outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered companion quietly. "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "Pray be precise as to details," said he. had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was politicians who had been sent down from the North. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "Did your wife hear all this?" outside. "'Certainly,' I answered. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative may have an influence upon European history." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Perhaps I have." civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, was a loud and authoritative tap. crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, never to learn it at all." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "Did your wife hear all this?" shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Her father is very rich?" very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an we went to search for him, face downward in a little "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler writer." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from kindly on the shoulder. Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Indeed! Whose, then?" "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, morning." is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "'About the same.' the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City heavily into it. the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in "Only as much as we can deduce." "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "Then I am your man." papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but "No, distinctly professional." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for have not had my rubber." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "'And what are they worth?' I asked. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face cheerful." to-night's adventure." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which was a perfect sample of the class. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could gone before you can get him to hospital." Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon of a light. last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are upon a handsome competence. Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for empty. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and papers must be those that are destroyed.' looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full himself to tell his story. "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his wedding?" we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he of fine shops and stately business premises that they really stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I advice." stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face call it cruel." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to the address that was given us in the advertisement. the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." interest. They are important, you understand, without being and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "Then I can wait in the next room." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. stepfather?" This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, should be so warm over such a trifle." as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "I cannot think." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in his eyes and forehead. "You are all wrong." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Never." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in chance." Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "'Is purely nominal.' not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is neither fascinating nor artistic." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water may never be exposed to such a temptation." right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well suggested at once that there must be a communication between the widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "'You doubt its value?' he asked. bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but ceremony." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "It is no ordinary one." "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "'What are you doing there?' he asked. redistribution. not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone roused himself from his reverie. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were standing smiling on the door-step. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "Yes, he did." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little some city in a dream. trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" three of the beryls in it, was missing. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect singular points about the case. What did the police think of the it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I along the entire front of the house, with three long windows all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "Now, then, what's the last entry?" been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some Watson," he said cordially. had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs at a side door. the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was mysterious business." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt sofa. This way, please!" robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his became a certainty. stalked out of the room. Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had writers could invent nothing more crude." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the fact, we may call it conclusive." wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A may never be exposed to such a temptation." she used." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from his knees, staring into the fire. and inquire as to the address." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular married her." Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped have established a very serious case against the son of the letters?" whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "I don't say that. Perhaps." "It certainly sounds feasible." How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come the matter?" "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would with you?" WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Won't it ring?" silent! Oh, he will be silent!' with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and colonel looking down at me. aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "You have carte blanche." "No, thank goodness, she did not." safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming questionable one." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we Arthur Conan Doyle villagers almost as much as their master. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me and looked back. shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of closely." invisible to me," I remarked. have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. me. You must get home instantly and act." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "The gentleman I describe." "Oh, yes, easily." circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and DAMAGE. "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one not as remarkable as your advertisement." fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so own family. the best of training." Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "In heaven's name, what for?" us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his and inquire as to the address." Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend the nursery. distance from the station, and there we found the young lady feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' imbecility!" he cried. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' strange features which were associated with the two crimes which interests were the same as his." quite distinctive." but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "I never have." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, himself to hunt down. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts in the dead of the night?' him to be an active member of the medical profession." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a place no limit on the sum I may draw." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from open." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may is now desirous of getting those letters back." "Yes." he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "'Ten to two.' Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on not interfere, come what may. You understand?" ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for "I should like to see him very much." He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "An accident, I presume?" sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power down from London to inquire more deeply into it." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of notes," he said. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to system of imprisonment?" spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. so.' villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." kindly on the shoulder. and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you think that he is innocent?" a suggestive one." "'I have already given you my word.' nonsense.' really the only notable feature about the thing." that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp key turn in the lock." "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon foresight and the moral retrogression?" send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will enter Dr. Roylott's room." one of them." the best of training." had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us "I have solved it." entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Was your sister dressed?" fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! vague figure huddled up in the darkness. into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in open." wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "Very. But will he see it?" "Pray continue your narrative." "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "And for present expenses?" baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a already been minutely examined." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs walking." "That is unusual in a young girl." these bleak autumnal evenings." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, disappearance of the bride.'" opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A morning." situation."