collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "It goes to the housekeeper's room." their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become arrangements." there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "And your mother is alive?" his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "And what did you see?" mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," have I gained?" late." with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "Quite so. She has her freedom." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "You have it, sir, just as it happened." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a Sholtos." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "And how have you succeeded?" upon an income of about 60 pounds." that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in said I. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. extraordinary contortions. "Do you receive much company?" he asked. spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he call you and give you the chance." I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the to you." "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have tear off another piece?' lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point here and I will read it to you: "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "Very much so." so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "It is half-past ten now." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "This concluded the examination of the witness." I have it here in my museum." settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. approach us with offers to donate. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had had a long day." "It was." 1.E.9. prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors of receipt of the work. in. commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice was lame." it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Yes, at the mines." not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as green of the new foliage. note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, of it with the greatest attention. "The best possible." in his power. wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Yes, sir." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. morning." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall The events in question occurred in the early days of my newspaper selections." salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, The events in question occurred in the early days of my the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they better grown goose." Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "Witness: Nothing definite. seem to you to be relevant or not." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "I would give my fortune to have them back." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, of Fenchurch Street." company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "The landlord of the Alpha." "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Did he not advertise?" few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I said he. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "Yes, there are nearly always some there." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the nice household for a young lady." seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "'I am sure that I do not know.' is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "At half-wages, in fact." grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "Now, then, what's the last entry?" everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my think that any burglar could have done. chemical work which was so dear to him. nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those again before evening." me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman tied." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the fat-encircled eyes. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of companion quietly. "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "And help." very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "On the contrary, this is the right side." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, as he folded up the epistle. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord been lifted and conveyed somewhere." so.' should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "Not social, then?" on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them not as remarkable as your advertisement." bird of prey. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been and put his glass in his pocket. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets the stable lane now." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "Do you go out much in society?" were wasted." of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; was it brought him the coronet? week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon directly by questioning you." material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the think you a quite exceptional woman." gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "Which are?" my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "No." old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" "Yes." object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "The best possible." "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the something of him before." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm Holmes." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "And why in hopes?" story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. could gather together that I was able to avert another public desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" see me here to avoid scandal." telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his with some details as to your case." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "It certainly sounds feasible." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years never will be, entirely cleared up. later, upon the night of May 2nd." written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "Yes, at the mines." story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" and inquire as to the address." "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous fire. You quite follow me?" "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "Never." to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "But you would not advise me to refuse?" Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it or in danger--" upon a handsome competence. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for States. "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the other lovers by making love himself." used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "Of what day?" these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "'Oh, no.' abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more Countess of Morcar's?" an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an it." my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to you want, then?' gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King not, dad?" she asked. "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow meant it for the best. the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no "In answer to an advertisement." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "None. Neville wrote those words." of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on away into the river." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer you in yours." took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his or in danger--" "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, Project Gutenberg-tm works. Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "'Certainly not. But why?' but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would are, and they are waiting for us." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a whole matter to your consideration." answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and Holmes' face clouded over. impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "'Stolen!' he cried. "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would signal between you and your father? details should find their way into the papers. Inspector "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my invisible to me," I remarked. "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years "Yes, certainly." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. have been better. It is all right." spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a direction." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously your own bird, so if you wish--" prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black will he say when he returns?" place, I think that there is good ground to think that the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my forebodings. his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a redistribution. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, intrusion of other matters." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and quite distinctive." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the "Ha! you find it so?" read it out to me." of them has the shutters up.' kindly on the shoulder. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous passage and a tap at the door. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "Absolutely none." "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that tightly behind him. papers must be those that are destroyed.' stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim "The decline of his fortunes, then?" dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black that you wished to speak to me?' "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "Entirely." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you It was close upon four before the door opened, and a untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as him to be an active member of the medical profession." but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "You are all wrong." "'Never.' "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment as noiselessly as she had come. dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of DAMAGE. "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Yes, I have one waiting." he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "But his lameness?" your billet.' "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a fishes. too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards works. "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all paper in the air. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," of the efforts of the United States government and of the better down. "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would you." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, taking in every detail of the apartment. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that Sholtos." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" colonel looking down at me.