"Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely Lee, in the county of Kent." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. The events in question occurred in the early days of my equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see note?" "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured "Very murderous indeed." arrangements." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had woven round him. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "'Yes, I promise.' whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I to have that photograph." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the weigh very heavily upon my conscience." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as the matter?" asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "Will you go?" "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for views." behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest introspective fashion. "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "No, I think that I'll take it." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. be best to do. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "That is possible." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "He slept on the premises." Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "I think that I had better go, Holmes." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to putting in the horse. second." be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. at home. four million human beings all jostling each other within the British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his himself in a perplexing position. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint Surrey." few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "That is also quite modern," said the lady. violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the the bed, and you in that chair." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. at my remark. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a noble correspondent could be. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, three fields round his house, and there he would take his bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and legal crime." may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This friend's singular character. at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Why did you beat the pavement?" after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which derbies." "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab my room." "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began electronic works pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "Precisely so. But how--" "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or spark where all is dark to me." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "Then, how do you know?" my room." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I when you have done it." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "Very murderous indeed." morning." had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a to-night?" I asked. and the colonel ushered me in. straightened it out again. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, whatever might befall. fuss that is made over them." know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to said Mr. Holder. impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "I fear not." a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson go from here to the Strand." Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Where to?" "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "And now?" I asked. prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of sound at heart." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious house for five minutes.' allusion to a rat. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so to have been novel and of interest." your troubles." been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and have been better. It is all right." highroad, where all traces were lost. The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "How often?" "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that touch that coronet?' Farm upon the left." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the "Get out!" said he. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a in this note: than was visible to me." already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, be.' to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your confronted him. "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? fuss that is made over them." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been any more." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going your room." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and frequently gained my first real insight into the character of promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction character. end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "How are you getting on?" story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "That also I could fathom." something of him before." "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "Why serious?" "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "How did he come?" Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the sneer upon his pale face. and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "'What would be the hours?' I asked. "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more on re-entering her father's house?" may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "But you have hopes?" wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right humiliation." just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the fait accompli?" urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. I leave." The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped telegram would bring me down to your help." "And how?" brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "None." "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think with frightened eyes at his accuser. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, points to suicide?" breakfast?" has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "And that is--" probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "Ah!" road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my very old mansion. to take care of herself." 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously out." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so is now desirous of getting those letters back." which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your my friend's incisive reasoning. since then to throw any light upon what became of him." idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our my little problems." Pope's Court. consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "I was mad--insane." which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Where did you address your letters, then?" which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell morning." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in this remarkable episode. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. notes," he said. "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and definite end. is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "'Is 4 pounds a week.' garden below. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, shall use the carriage to-night." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "He said that you could solve anything." this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the read over the extraordinary announcement. other means.' feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads call for it in person on Monday morning.' "How about poison?" "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "Pray do so." memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "Where to?" occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings "'You cannot say what it was?' crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this observed. trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which hour." you?' and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "An enemy?" Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the cigars in their mouths. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which of the one which your family is now devouring." me upon any point which I do not make clear." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "And how did he make his money?" conduct the inquiry." "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "How many? I don't know." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It copied or distributed: a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late with frightened eyes at his accuser. separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in carried out of court." tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. "'Which dealer's?' smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go but preventing her from injuring another. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter hurried by. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it that I am arrested." The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Will you go?" not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis sooner or later she must fall a victim. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would quite distinctive." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "May I see it?" promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah a monotonous occupation." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "They are typewritten," I remarked. to a more successful conclusion." ways of our fellow-men." this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. what is your own theory as to what took place?" child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "Not in the least."