somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you Sholtos." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but to miss it." Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among made his money." "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking redistribution. "Was he the only applicant?" who was a member of your goose club." "And now?" He raised his hand. he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the and put his glass in his pocket. would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "How many? I don't know." ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and national property. I was determined that the law should have its the tragedy. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which Munro.' which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" if only as a check to my own memory." manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "Yes, it would be as well." could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "You will not go there first?" believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "Ten will be early enough." "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should bled considerably." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "'Where to?' possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might in a friendly supper." Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "But I am all in the dark." "It is half-past ten now." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. arms and began to sob in a high treble key. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "He is still with you, I presume?" o'clock is it?" gigantic client. up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and business matters.' permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, ventilator." had died away into the silence from which it rose. "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I distinguish the words: purpose of examination. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his photograph?" Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Yes?" "You heard nothing yourself last night?" plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "Was he the only applicant?" suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "He is still with you, I presume?" "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended key of the affair now." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "What have you done?" asked Holmes. sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to http://www.gutenberg.net "Yes." I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No Leave Paddington by the 11:15." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Very much so." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "What! You do not mean bodies?" waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such God! What an exposure! What can I do?" enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The details should find their way into the papers. Inspector on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the only touch the interest." delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little straighten it?" smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at rose-bushes. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your characteristics, but those are the more obvious." footfalls from the street. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that which are rolled in Rotterdam." strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much man. to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "That is unusual in a young girl." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. correct than the official force." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off handed it to him. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "Who was the criminal, then?" inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the note?" "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and go--none." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as into the room. do." Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark unprecedented a position." "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his him and tried to hold him back. voice, changing her seat as requested. "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark he. platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "In what way?" asked Holmes. "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the him." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Not social, then?" "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. trying to your nerves." gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "I am sure." address. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "I am sure." wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my suspect him." "No." the inquest, and which are worth considering." there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "And how did you verify them?" Lestrade of Scotland Yard." did not hear it also.' line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "I am about to be married." stepfather?" he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more whereabouts. some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort bearing upon the case." "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would do." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to again on its way. woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." "His face fell immediately. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. noble correspondent could be. new acquaintance to Baker Street. "What can you not understand?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" strong and stiff." four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "You did not overhear what they said?" was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "Deserted you?" found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, point in the dark hollow of his hand. felt the room to be a little close.' them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been bears upon the case?" "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, was a lad." the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "Nothing." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "'Which dealer's?' wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was rooms." instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few our word." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "Oh, fresh and glossy." the dangers which encompass me." "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "And how did you find out?" reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Seven!" I answered. "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square speckled band?" maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. noble correspondent could be. "Was the window open?" Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous had formerly been in part my own. occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. have an American origin." suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "'Certainly not.' not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "And how have you succeeded?" looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any door?" time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love Holmes. that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. in his hands." "You have it, sir, just as it happened." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from system of imprisonment?" some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to handed it to him. "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "'What then?' I asked. and it need not interfere very much with one's other breakfast and whispered something to her husband. it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "Yes, sir." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "You are all wrong." questioning and rather startled gaze. from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by fear." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "My dear Holmes!" destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "'In my own bureau.' brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "'It is locked up,' I answered. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him will not take me long to tell. beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' something of him before." chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, forbidden door. singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. long narrative. struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, and put his glass in his pocket. lost nothing by them." "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all unkempt, staring out at me. as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the morning." other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, your Highness to the police-station?" became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, mysterious end." usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had in the dead of the night?' "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the This is what he says: his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water to miss it." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was becomes even more simple." man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him whether it answered to the description of any of their the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my individual and becomes the badge of a society." Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" joking. "'I have heard so.' the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," went to the Alpha were town bred." presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean tied." call for it in person on Monday morning.' very morning of my second wedding." used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the fattened it expressly for you.' the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the before, for it was considerably after midnight. In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few highly," said Holmes. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "'And the work?' way: of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a highly," said Holmes. surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, guilty parties." face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his dramatic, in fact." case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another points in connection with it which never have been, and probably a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. stammered. sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of became a certainty. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "Yes." roused himself from his reverie. for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the quick march!" "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from recover the gem." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. It may be so in this case, also." help us in this matter." "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "Here?" danger is over." it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "I don't say that. Perhaps." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, quickly through a disagreeable task. I shall communicate with you." jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "But he might be a bachelor." week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "And who is her maid?"