given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, within hail.' "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" comes from the middle window." "'Certainly,' I answered. disappearance of the bride.'" "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made to take care of herself." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position him, that man would not have given me such complete information key turn in the lock." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, thin legs towards the fire. back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of an introduction to him?" to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my walking." "Stolen." with you?" your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and was used.' Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and It may be so in this case, also." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door seen the man in the road." "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some all that?" and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast present." "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "Yes, sir." "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, of the efforts of the United States government and of the better have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a late!' "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high clang of the bell. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at six. Come in!" "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That an introduction to him?" soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came with you?" down in his armchair and closing his eyes. have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. mysterious business." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while newspaper selections." because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "Stolen, then." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie come either from the window or the door. My attention was way in everything. brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he "What then?" with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a joking. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough carpenter." wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There my secret was safe in his possession. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "I cannot imagine." relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." such person." Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "'And what are they worth?' I asked. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no the armchair which I pushed forward for him. act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you "My last client of the sort was a king." daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "'You doubt its value?' he asked. was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "Quite so. She has her freedom." PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own in his power. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "It goes to the housekeeper's room." and looked back. easy-going way." "Then I do not see the point." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "What is it?" "I am following you closely," I answered. would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. upon an income of about 60 pounds." wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without "Did you become engaged then?" still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. 1.F. of Fenchurch Street." "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight closing the door. thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "Never." it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of tension within him. the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Eh? What was that?" breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I crime. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "On Monday." fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has a little more before I quite committed myself. of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be giving me time to thank him. so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his "Do you know him?" "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he narrative." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "'Yes.' go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "Well, some hundreds of times." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there someone who had been in Australia." his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" already referred to. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found gbnewby@pglaf.org but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is will be renamed. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "Here?" bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "I was mad--insane." events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in observed. place of silver." doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "And you can do nothing until then?" "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in noting anything else of interest. and prosperity to your house. Good-night." footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "But what harm can there be in that?" ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "At the wedding breakfast." sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a information in his hands the value of which he did not himself and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the "In San Francisco, a year ago." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the likely to be some crony of the landlady's." resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. might have a private word with us. nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, II. He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands presented more singular features than that which was associated passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." you came in." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at "My dear Holmes!" nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the the station." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting business?" and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "I say it is." were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your The telegram which we eventually received came late one night man. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "Always." hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of that?' along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." and files of the old papers, following the future career of every there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave over here." "I was sure that I might rely on you." Street. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "The decline of his fortunes, then?" savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his "And I." horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In and prosperity to your house. Good-night." "Nothing." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for extraordinary contortions. "Well, but China?" solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "Then, how do you know?" old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers that the gas is not laid on in his house?" my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "That sounds a little paradoxical." assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped his huge brown hands. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "Yes, they were peculiar boots." was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in depend upon your compliance." dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of carriage. It was a chestnut." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to and effective." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I annoyance, but no jest. electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "Really! You surprise me." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "Come in!" said Holmes. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "Yes." perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps business in the City. She little knew what. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "Proceed, then." home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but an introduction to him?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon when you have done it." "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "I saw her in conversation with her maid." heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the really the only notable feature about the thing." "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "You were travelling in the States?" nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "That is also quite modern," said the lady. ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "How did he come?" two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "'Never,' said I. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given During two years I have had three consultations and one small would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere horse could go." name is different." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is question," said Holmes, smiling. purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his Count Von Kramm." Cross for the Continent." But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a green of the new foliage. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked have had none more fantastic than this." hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in the King without delay." "Your presence might be invaluable." eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "'You doubt its value?' he asked. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed residence of the great financier. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended breakfast?" business." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not was keenly on my guard against him. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest society." "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that