present." "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" main points of my analysis." ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he "Could he throw no light?" back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was hand, madam?" blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Has he come with you to-night?" understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with will take you up to see the machine.' of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "You heard nothing yourself last night?" crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching "I have hopes." "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "In answer to an advertisement." "You'll never persuade me to believe that." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just or other trace. But how on earth--" sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "'Then let me do so?' "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "I am to be neutral?" "Where, then?" "I think that I had better go, Holmes." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "Who by?" present." have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "They are typewritten," I remarked. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "I will not look." constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered the ceiling. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. mystery." Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "And Irene Adler?" grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "Certainly." to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." made his money." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel use an arc-and-compass breastpin." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "What I expected to see." plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may points to suicide?" "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Then, how do you know?" shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "That you are never beaten." "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching mystery may be cleared along those lines." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. fattened it expressly for you.' which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." shaken than I had ever seen him. The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "'How far from the body?' deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "'What are you doing there?' he asked. you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. as the one I chose?' "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the paper in the air. saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "How can you tell that?" of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was whether it answered to the description of any of their a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the and I shall be with you presently." "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "What! a murderous attack?" She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of Holmes' face clouded over. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from look upon these things in a different way." in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it annoyance, but no jest. into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little wall." undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If in this note: pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will things are very often connected not with the larger but with the begun to whiten, even as mine has." violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "But how will you look?" manager. golden eyeglasses. should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "And how?" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be orange pips. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "On the contrary, this is the right side." charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "How did you trace it, then?" "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "Perhaps we may make them less so." inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was morning." office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I ventilator." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have go--none." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "Pray tell us what has happened to you." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during conclusions. copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before you." Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that little adventures." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "Your French gold?" records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet Doctor, of the paper and the date." way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes that there was nothing in it, after all." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. was not a bird to be seen there. name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "Do you know him?" on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I away to you." of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat to have been novel and of interest." and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "Yes, there are nearly always some there." finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "Of Friday, June 19th." "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all about. Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of prove to be little relation between the different incidents of wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "Then the page we have seen--" occupations.' that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. that I can to serve you." that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet during which he might have communicated with his friend the had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he whereabouts. to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice people don't know." lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "But you were on a friendly footing?" detective. Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in the tragedy. ways of our fellow-men." social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. she used." suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us time." the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my interests were the same as his." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I man. say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have not personally threatened." "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "Imitated." are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the children over to America with him, so that I found myself without villagers almost as much as their master. on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "Precisely so. But how--" brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced is worth.' John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "He said that you could solve anything." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "What, then?" of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, to arrive at through this?" this remarkable episode. and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to gbnewby@pglaf.org enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful despaired of." they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "I should like to see him very much." "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been my former friend and companion. profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. you came in." call you and give you the chance." "She walked into the breakfast-room." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "'Where could I find him?' full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." annoyance, but no jest. at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the ashen face. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "One?" confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the to a more successful conclusion." shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "Which surely he restored to their owner?" agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "'Most admirably.' the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being six. Come in!" "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of of the way of danger. methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "Pray be precise as to details," said he. dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "Not I." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" Eyford." of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure from you?" body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the upon an income of about 60 pounds." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "'What, the red-headed man?' "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small Dr. Gregory B. Newby don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. acted in my house last night?" follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and him to be an active member of the medical profession." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "Her father is very rich?" "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several carpenter." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action of his shoulders. As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold becomes even more simple." Stoke Moran." the Friday. Was it to be in church?" you do it in twenty minutes!' homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we