of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining him and tried to hold him back. "I cannot say that I have." that you can jump it.' absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one of fine shops and stately business premises that they really her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him yards of it?' "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "Yes." destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a head. So long, then!" "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "Will you bet, then?" begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell are, I think, all that we need." what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "'You cannot say what it was?' request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of his grey eyes. breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a again." in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an for and were ordered to this address. "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "'Quite sure, dad.' "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "What, then, did Peterson do?" the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "'Yes, it was gone.' I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between chemical work which was so dear to him. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to in darkness. part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the You can understand that this register and diary may implicate there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature a little more before I quite committed myself. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "Which are?" "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens himself to hunt down. compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal yards of it?' time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar likely to be some crony of the landlady's." narrative." "By train from Waterloo." a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father upon a handsome competence. locked." and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the your co-operation." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "It is possible." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "Yes." would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. from you?" science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in and that he would see to anything that turned up. drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as of the efforts of the United States government and of the better do.' enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the certainly not very gracious." security.' sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great to talk it over. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "'Yes, it was gone.' "How are you getting on?" value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed over here." about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. asked. daring than any effort of the imagination." definite end. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "So it appears." metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point that?' at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. bill, which interests me deeply." to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "To the police?" pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her I leave." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the approach us with offers to donate. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised becomes even more simple." "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. you." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "Nothing." "I cannot as yet see any connection." Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "Precisely so. But how--" instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "I assure you that I am in your hands." India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "What will you do, then?" "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. amused." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "And help." records." "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "That's no good." before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had them?" Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking it means?" say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who hands. act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to singular points about the case. What did the police think of the through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out floor. whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried to where he stood hid behind the curtain. he bowed and left the room without another word. hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Well, but China?" "Entirely." of the one which your family is now devouring." from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "You'll never persuade me to believe that." beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That outside." Eyford at 11:15.' that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." strong and stiff." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the "No, but the enclosure is." trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Breckinridge is his name." suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us hopeless attempt at recovering them." Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he her also." Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed over part of the map. "What do you read?" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "My photograph." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our him to be an active member of the medical profession." "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. "Not in a good cause." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it writers could invent nothing more crude." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've have established a very serious case against the son of the low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "And the murderer?" of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security used to be." beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "Well, some hundreds of times." "Not I." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an letters?" stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "And when will you call?" almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low pressing in one house as in another. Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the strong and stiff." photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. past. brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Ah, but I was recommended to you." to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove was a loud and authoritative tap. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "Certainly, madam." remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are this unhappy family?" had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "'Never,' said I. A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked before, for it was considerably after midnight. Street. stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His way in." have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "And leave your case unfinished?" "Perhaps we may make them less so." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would call for it in person on Monday morning.' will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive Holmes. collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "Bought." plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets Again Holmes raved in the air. the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Have you her photograph?" you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my "It's nothing of the kind." bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just least a most suspicious remark." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "It looks newer than the other things?" Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much coat-tails." here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "'Why that?' I asks. colour had been driven from his face. "'Yes, sir.' goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "Game for a morning drive?" pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce behind me. "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "Precisely." threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to and wait." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was this remarkable episode. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. I shall continue with my miserable story. "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to signal between you and your father? object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past fluttered off among the others. 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He is worth.' the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to not, dad?" she asked. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "'Quite sure, dad.'