go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "How are you getting on?" "Ah, but I was recommended to you." impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been night.' said he. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Oh, yes, easily." "Pray continue your narrative." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. third from London." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for mysterious end." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "What will you do, then?" effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." forehead. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to which was all perfectly true. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "That is it on the dressing-table." father's place of business?" a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the such attractions and accomplishments?' "You horrify me!" "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, said he at last. promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "You have carte blanche." that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw will take you up to see the machine.' remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. introspective fashion. husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes Watson," he said cordially. "In which, sir?" Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, arrangements." unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "And now?" He raised his hand. to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet think, you have already met." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so better in every way that they should make their position a little eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it exactly what you advise." little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, "That is possible." he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "Ample." through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. think, you have already met." the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence on in his house." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. http://gutenberg.net/license). himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, the little opening for the ventilator is." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "Breckinridge is his name." happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "You saw the ventilator, too?" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "Yes." so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "An enemy?" some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to certainly not very gracious." the very letters. But what is this written above them?' news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, directors, with the result that you have seen." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall call it cruel." "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "Pray tell us what has happened to you." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "I think that it is very probable." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his him, that man would not have given me such complete information Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be the iron safe, which he closed upon it. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "That is easily got." several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "But how will you look?" would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely the window, rose as we entered. which are rolled in Rotterdam." out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment morning." severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge to a light-house. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "A confidential servant?" the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more McCarthy's innocence. "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "The best possible." "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the fattened it expressly for you.' him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "BALLARAT." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "No, I had a dozen." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "She showed me, as I told you she would." stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and sound at heart." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "Yes, it was twisted." sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who points in connection with it which never have been, and probably abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a society." "I am armed." strength in the others." before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am see a sister of mine apply for." product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great the coronet in his hand?" note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered not come at once?" attention." "I don't believe it." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "Pray be precise as to details," said he. belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is confronted him. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "In heaven's name, what for?" habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. before, for it was considerably after midnight. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "That also I could fathom." deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of comes from the middle window." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "What are they?" the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. train from Paddington which would bring you there at about have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling intimate personal affairs in this public manner." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. forecastle of an emigrant ship. "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he presented more singular features than that which was associated "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "Perfectly so." "Won't it ring?" daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He you?' work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the for the market.' Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. bled considerably." all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe notes," he said. the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion absorbing." "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; joking. of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of some mystery and the punishment of some crime." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." The events in question occurred in the early days of my week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I for and were ordered to this address. most important business. It is probable that he will be away all with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "What then?" was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to sit on the left-hand side of the driver." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, for securing the situation." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A chambers. "Oh, fresh and glossy." "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, room had already been engaged for us. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "No, thank goodness, she did not." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in late!' has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in may have an influence upon European history." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with with you?" coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that strength." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "So it appears." "Was she in good spirits?" father's young wife. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "I think that it is very probable." the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed ashen face. your only hope of safety." promised to bring home. a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." man. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited four million human beings all jostling each other within the "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, garden below. "I will try. What is it?" "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you public press." "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the bedroom door." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to taking in every detail of the apartment. and a shock of very red hair. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and American. Then who could this American be, and why should he particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy back alive. solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which of note-paper. It read in this fashion: "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "Did you become engaged then?" The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would this Miss Turner." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "How can you tell that?" fait accompli?" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, notes," he said. will he say when he returns?" friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must the window, rose as we entered. Street. "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "Witness: I must still refuse. wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his his fortune, and I went back to pa. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." you." shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "What have you to say now?" band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction them present such singular features as the strange train of as yours." foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall