was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing fattened it expressly for you.' he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the remarked. "'Ten to two.' keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of interests were the same as his." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "Ah!" had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that colonel looking down at me. case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you His name is Francis Prosper." cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp pierced for earrings?" secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled friends, not even his own brother. unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "You horrify me." places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as Edgeware Road. the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "But I have heard all that you have heard." "It came here." graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to second window is the one that I jumped from." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of do.' of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "Yes." human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "You horrify me!" the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, the south-west, I see." "You saw the ventilator, too?" go back?" come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with in the hope of finding them." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open of note-paper. It read in this fashion: time." were new raised from a basin. the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute knowledge of the world." interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door it. "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "'I have already given you my word.' as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his was used.' strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless disappearance of the bride.'" not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban The telegram which we eventually received came late one night 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Will you go?" "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the washing it down with a long draught of water. "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. matter over." "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent address. still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "I promise," said Holmes. the bed, and you in that chair." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, conclusions. "On the contrary, this is the right side." "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and answered with a sidelong glance. blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To was keenly on my guard against him. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "I would pay ten." had picked up in the wood. "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Where to?" His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "You think that he is dead?" and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "So I am. Very much so." large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "The knees of his trousers." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from if only as a check to my own memory." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may will he say when he returns?" "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "What steps will you take?" I asked. the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Was the window open?" compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "Not yet." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst know that the truth is known." delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "Yes." that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "'You cannot say what it was?' interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever drawing your inferences." rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes 1.F. afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him him, that man would not have given me such complete information my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. too. "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot meanly of me." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "At what time?" little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was would then never go into court at all." up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when London for the present?" pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I better grown goose." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will possible that we could bring him back to her? "But you can know nothing of this?" "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a fat-encircled eyes. "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, not as remarkable as your advertisement." was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past his huge brown hands. "And the cigar-holder?" "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were chance at all." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a for its centre. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry Holmes. "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. "'As governess?' but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and heavily into it. and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "Why, it's a dummy," said he. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work constraint." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary flock.' "How do you know, then?" I nodded to show that I had heard. smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling do.' "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was and put his glass in his pocket. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "What have you to say now?" morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss woven round him. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. think, you have already met." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, be there in time for your coming." sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you Where does the thing come from?' great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I four million human beings all jostling each other within the "I would pay ten." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough as the one I chose?' As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." present." was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? a good hundred miles off by now." not come at once?" "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "Yes?" read over the extraordinary announcement. The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from official police." anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "'You doubt its value?' he asked. to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. had no one to advise her at such a crisis." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle tied." "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more corner of the building. him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered this poor creature." entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, enough to aid us in our search." These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in politicians who had been sent down from the North. the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, will he say when he returns?" "Nothing." you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "Now, then, what's the last entry?" writer." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "Yes." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass is a common subject for conversation. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was DAMAGE. your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the the armchair which I pushed forward for him. to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to pierced for earrings?" acted in my house last night?" "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH his face. get the tickets." 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "I should like to see him very much." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "Thank you. And your address?" nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Whose house is it?" them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little the stones. whereabouts. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "Well?" jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "But he might be a bachelor." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. allusion to a rat. "Pray let us have it, for all that." "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would written, and locked the door of the office after me. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." that, and I came down." "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "You have carte blanche." tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and searched, without anything being found which could incriminate place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's London for the present?" in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single was not a bird to be seen there. is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his towards the blaze. and have this put in the evening papers." "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "What is it, then--a fire?" arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "And you don't know his address?" him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter.