another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. depend upon my doing so.' great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the "That sounds a little paradoxical." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of present." locked." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "Nothing?" was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "I say that I have solved it." Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "Certainly." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned peculiar to him. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "You have but to name it." really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "Perhaps I have." did not hear it also.' nothing of it?" a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' in the dead of the night?' be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain II. "What is it, then--a fire?" consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, his fortune, and I went back to pa. walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen one which it was hard to resist. "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a important." but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "That's no good." Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent closing the door. through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace which should have the effect of calling the attention of the it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed served to weaken the effect. "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an have established a very serious case against the son of the enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a points to suicide?" Have you good authority for what you say?" the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "To an English lawyer named Norton." important." man. I know him from the photograph." donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached know all about it," he snarled. call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just closely." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of see a sister of mine apply for." "Deserted you?" conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "And you thought he was pulled back?" unclasping of his long thin hands. were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "But we can't all be." Miss Holder?" The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and followed. not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary is entirely a question of barometric pressure." the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It side. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great prison!" "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see has little to do with my story." it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before empty. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave and wait." "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," became a certainty. "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he other lovers by making love himself." "Not him." had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew his huge brown hands. "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass the driver. You want to know what became of those geese?" vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your the night.' among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is towards the blaze. the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' people in all walks of life. envelope. opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You people don't know." all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been I approached. evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the particular state visit http://pglaf.org "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that for securing the situation." say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "In San Francisco, a year ago." ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it indeed which he could not unravel. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the IS "'And the work?' week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had how narrow had been my escape. your troubles." carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents you understand?" "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a to go into your room and bar your shutters?" who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." closing the door. His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was in my life." habit of advancing money.' as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "Dark enough and sinister enough." Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another never will be, entirely cleared up. the room while you explain this matter?" careless servant girl?" valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and shaken than I had ever seen him. "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a carpenter." "No, but the enclosure is." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. prepare for the new role I have to play." I. of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known became a certainty. something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in salesman. before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "What?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind your bag." of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter seven miles from Eyford Station.' This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "Yes." lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the the side-table." exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic girl said." The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." ventilator." Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." of the one which your family is now devouring." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of I nodded to show that I had heard. going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The III. trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his of your young ladies.' The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my before, for it was considerably after midnight. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her enter Dr. Roylott's room." us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "Yes, the wine-cellar." frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "I was afraid that you were engaged." "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked may never be exposed to such a temptation." King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' putting in the horse. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' morning." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the companion. away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can ordinary clothes on?" paper in the air. back into the street. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing individual and becomes the badge of a society." what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would the devil!" with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his John Swain, of St. Augustine. "Yes." through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "Why? What do you mean?" I think that I could be of assistance to you." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "You have but to name it." a room. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an not use it unless it is absolutely needed." grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." is now desirous of getting those letters back." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Of what?" woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the confronted him. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "The best possible." gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "And how have you succeeded?" adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She noise which awoke you from your sleep?" card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser down from London to inquire more deeply into it." purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the you." "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord the Assizes." such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "'No, I know no one in these parts.' entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would tightly behind him. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, may have an influence upon European history." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your despair." case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "Nothing?" a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "No, thank goodness, she did not." me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for been." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most question you as to those details which seem to me to be most entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. appeared upon the scene." country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "'Is purely nominal.' they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some more terrible than the truth. corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a residence of the great financier. views." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce Holmes' thin, eager face. "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this in the hope of finding them." way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke disappearance of these gems?" face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant conceal it?" Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at Farm upon the left." "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the reach." at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But forecastle of an emigrant ship. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded works. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "How are you getting on?" her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull his grey eyes. Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey Chief Executive and Director reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that