it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "I am in hopes that she does." charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "'What are you doing there?' he asked. us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "Yes." "But not more so than I to find you." halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "And leave your case unfinished?" travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. with some details as to your case." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" without a word or a look. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "My dear Holmes!" the tragedy. in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." and it need not interfere very much with one's other held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many bare slabs of marble. would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands "You have compromised yourself seriously." "What do you make of that, Watson?" "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." crime." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "They are typewritten," I remarked. fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "What then?" "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "'Never,' said I. "And who is her maid?" to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "I assure you that I am in your hands." "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the the best of training." "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the Mary, has deserted me." "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and forbidden door. the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, details." "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil cup of tea. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "Nothing." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here get the tickets." outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what guilty parties." recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "And help." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to minor matters until to-morrow." "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a could go. she used." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that have got?" at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "On your arm?" PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small that threaten you." day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, this remarkable episode. the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet when your master had gone out." we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the that I can to serve you." my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered Where does the thing come from?' hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away examination of the premises, but without finding anything which of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, the side-table." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and which I could not give. He asked for Alice. in the port of London." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his telegram would bring me down to your help." "But you have hopes?" that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess McCarthy." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When burst out into a roar of laughter. call for it in person on Monday morning.' said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "Yes, from Horsham." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than to surprise her." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the you?' as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." even so self-evident a thing as that." blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the danger is over." Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish as he remarks, very much against the son." Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, the inner apartment." very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that very morning of my second wedding." affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and the bed, and you in that chair." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet who was a member of your goose club." "And you can do nothing until then?" arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." existence." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "This concluded the examination of the witness." "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, papers diligently of late, have you not?" ran thus: tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "BALLARAT." "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek be. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "How often?" "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, maiden herself was most instructive." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "And I say east," said my patient. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." approach us with offers to donate. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of directors have had misgivings upon the subject." temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been one of them." of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. them present such singular features as the strange train of elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Your sister is dead, then?" sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. house for five minutes.' "Were they all fastened this morning?" face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "I have a cab outside." pierced for earrings?" villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to place no limit on the sum I may draw." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the furiously. fashion which was peculiar to him. very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This clanging. adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "How are you getting on?" distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "What then?" "In answer to an advertisement." eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the young Openshaw's." will he say when he returns?" "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were waste of energy." a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with "A confidential servant?" firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the garden below. to his chemical studies. certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "Did you become engaged then?" "But you would not advise me to refuse?" that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' could not have written that. It is the German who is so Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "And how have you succeeded?" McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the roused himself from his reverie. which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "'How far from the body?' open." evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best some terrible trap for her." he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. appointment with me for six o'clock?" One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "And you don't know his address?" an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very again, where I was soon asleep. stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you into the bag, and made for the door. "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use if only as a check to my own memory." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "Where to?" presented which may be striking and bizarre without being half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been derbies." "How many? I don't know." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into coroner's jury." my friend's incisive reasoning. their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "I came to find a friend." about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "What then?" strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the The summons was a brief and urgent one. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some bedroom door." in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak DAMAGE. word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, Holmes' face clouded over. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were had died away into the silence from which it rose. it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But next day. intrusion of other matters." him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly his cane at the bell-pull. have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "Of what day?" Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "And who is her maid?" for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Eyford." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included photograph?" it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "On your arm?" time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried outbreak?" "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could flock.' he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about colour had been driven from his face. One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when and files of the old papers, following the future career of every likely to be some crony of the landlady's." own family. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I rose-bushes. to some other building. most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is his eyes and forehead. "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. keep the flames under. step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "His face fell immediately. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a you understand?" "No more words. Get out!" absorbing." Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "I should be immensely obliged to you." habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "And how have you succeeded?" "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of The King stared at him in amazement. "Nothing." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. your co-operation." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "Then what has happened to him?"