"Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" affection." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "'Quite sure, dad.' "To ruin me." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the of." nothing with him." did not hear it also.' "Ample." as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do whereabouts. States. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the held up the lantern and gazed about him. in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no gone. (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in certainly do as you advise." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. business." together. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "'You cannot say what it was?' "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I his face which made him a very different person to the round, this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "I assure you that I am in your hands." "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few will he say when he returns?" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight was a perfect sample of the class. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets newspaper selections." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "The rest you will leave in our hands." drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to good for you to do.' and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two experiences." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "I am in hopes that she does." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until mystery." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns you, my dear young lady?' you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "'And the work?' and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I along the entire front of the house, with three long windows confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "I think that it is very probable." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, http://www.gutenberg.net glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call meanly of me." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are brought there to personate someone, and the real person is to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "Yes, but only for you and me." We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps has little to do with my story." dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience intrusion of other matters." "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned our word." came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could enter into my head. "Yes, sir." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "You have carte blanche." least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "And I." voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, cheerful." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a "Where, indeed?" here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest test if we have an answer to our advertisement." mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One read it out to me." card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "You have carte blanche." "Where did you address your letters, then?" "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our him nearly every evening." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little and looked back. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass the general public were present, then?" forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a drawing your inferences." tension within him. bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "Here?" centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "Always." "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I call for it in person on Monday morning.' that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the said he. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "Here?" "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit see me here to avoid scandal." words came to my lips. following enigmatical notices: watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "And sit in the dark?" suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something man. along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was woven round him. "How often?" thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' instincts rose up against that laugh. suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "You don't mind breaking the law?" the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "And leave your case unfinished?" "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what legal crime." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. question," said Holmes, smiling. cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon take the flies, but not before." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "Well, but China?" The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and you." a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been face and glided from the room. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "Oh, yes, easily." "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a weary and pale-looking. I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists Holmes' thin, eager face. to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, locked." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt new duties?' roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of I. "Certainly." Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "He might." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: breakfast and whispered something to her husband. painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each remarked. "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone carried out of court." The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this bird of prey. "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "And the murderer?" "Ah!" tell them apart.' "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "What, then, did Peterson do?" jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." acted in my house last night?" and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or when you have done it." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its learned something! Where are the gems?" Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "And help." suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry room?" He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible Where does the thing come from?' he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very "I would pay ten." have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the it. "I have solved it." all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, was already answered. "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "What is it?" hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "What I expected to see." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a call it cruel." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" was feeling which was the fattest.' "May I see it?" over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a murdered man." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "Only as much as we can deduce." "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a I took the paper from him and read as follows: entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case chamber." go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should reach." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during companion. which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Who was the criminal, then?" singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have for the market.' "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "Have you her photograph?" The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "I have a cab outside." was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "The rest you will leave in our hands." "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to you." public press." would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of think, you have already met." his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat long narrative. fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in weigh very heavily upon my conscience." very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and six. Come in!" their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. conclusions. your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried the Red-headed League." society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "And who is her maid?" entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United habit of advancing money.' With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each spare." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my was lame." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for details should find their way into the papers. Inspector "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy man. I know him from the photograph." single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few back alive. "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "I have seen the police." in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the it. "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "Perfectly so." while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would train from Paddington which would bring you there at about has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "In heaven's name, what for?" daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Breckinridge is his name." but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "No, finished." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "My dear Holmes!" "But his left-handedness." "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was