explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the be.' "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. call it cruel." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of husband's writing, madam." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of chamber." all?" not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold of Fenchurch Street." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man Edgeware Road. ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as to-night." some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only think, you have already met." Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive his face. tightly behind him. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated with the outside air!" "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who already been minutely examined." time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "What of the rat, then?" the little opening for the ventilator is." phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project where we are going." from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should will be renamed. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but the Red-headed League." eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "Yes." naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as your own bird, so if you wish--" You can understand that this register and diary may implicate when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes forebodings. method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? It may be so in this case, also." on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not What do you deduce from it?" out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "But how will you look?" "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs the stable lane now." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a your billet.' weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which take the flies, but not before." "I was sure that I might rely on you." been able to understand it, in a very few words. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "The murder was done with it." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous the very letters. But what is this written above them?' what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "It was an hour's good drive." disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary his fortune, and I went back to pa. rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their infinite languor in his face. examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "Game for a morning drive?" enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own himself in a perplexing position. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is becomes even more simple." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "'You doubt its value?' he asked. January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "The Coroner: What do you mean? that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "I was certainly surprised to find you there." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to "But how did you gain them?" "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "What then?" later, upon the night of May 2nd." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I God! What an exposure! What can I do?" burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer the child." And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon was feeling which was the fattest.' "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "The landlord of the Alpha." accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself yourselves in at night?" strength." downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe to Leatherhead. "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "I came to find a friend." eavesdroppers?' small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as delirious. so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but results." "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation crime." call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "But what will you do?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in over part of the map. "What do you read?" low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a there were so many in the whole country as were brought together calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup "The Cedars?" hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a instincts rose up against that laugh. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "What have you done?" asked Holmes. south, for the country is more deserted there." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Pray do so." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "Then I do not see the point." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and as yours." "What! Had he lost his wife?" same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "'What do you call purely nominal?' "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "A greater distance to travel." a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "That is also quite modern," said the lady. the coroner come to?" sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an she to prove their authenticity?" "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "It certainly sounds feasible." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his second." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and never will be, entirely cleared up. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "The vanishing of the lady." they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "If so, much may have happened between." "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been and capable of preserving a secret.' could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the yourselves in at night?" any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "Where did you address your letters, then?" table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I detained." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "What! Had he lost his wife?" loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in for and were ordered to this address. in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest closely." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "Why did you pick him?" against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "She walked into the breakfast-room." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand get the tickets." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the morning." result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. breakfast." "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ I was concerned in it." truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Not in a good cause." when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I recall any case within my experience which looked at the first a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "'Why that?' I asks. of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the me upon any point which I do not make clear." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "What, then?" fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "Not social, then?" word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I some city in a dream. into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I may have an influence upon European history." south, for the country is more deserted there." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "Not I." "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his out of this horrible affair." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "'And what are they worth?' I asked. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the your room." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "Where, then?" "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "In which, sir?" the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the three fields round his house, and there he would take his reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." records." though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to unprecedented a position." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "Witness: It was. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "I was sure that I might rely on you." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some one else, I think." "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, detective. a good hundred miles off by now." "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "And you thought he was pulled back?" look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, tightly behind him. here and I will read it to you: "That is unusual in a young girl." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact think that he is innocent?" "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." little adventures." "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third most interesting one." place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition,