more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." best detective that ever lived. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "I came to find a friend." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "My dear Holmes!" up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be the stones. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "So I heard. You have him here?" dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. so.' learned something! Where are the gems?" lumber-room." difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and think, you have already met." freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, a good hundred miles off by now." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," all that?" tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before into the room. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. memory. upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "And Miss Sutherland?" "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "Seven!" I answered. became a certainty. It was close upon four before the door opened, and a that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered bearing upon the case." object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "And the murderer?" three of the beryls in it, was missing. already referred to. who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable lamp in his hand. "Oh, the cause is excellent!" Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." said he at last. "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "Nor running a chance of arrest?" upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, money should be paid at once.' "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to back alive. article?" most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this was already answered. with her." companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, learned something! Where are the gems?" London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured "I have hopes." tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a go from here to the Strand." instituted." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were as the one I chose?' been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." coat-tails." That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he through." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to the general public were present, then?" chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey floor. morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. seven miles from Eyford Station.' photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger his eyes and forehead. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the sneer upon his pale face. matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" money should be paid at once.' character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding prison!" strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "But how could you guess what the motive was?" at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "And how in the world did you find them?" "Yes, they were peculiar boots." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by might help us?" "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a you." ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet became a certainty. security.' am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" begun to whiten, even as mine has." "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." was a lad." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Ha! you find it so?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. coroner's jury." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very good-night and bustled off upon her way. than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty touch that coronet?' have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "The gentleman I describe." "We must have a cab." to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked conceal it?" vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "But what is it you wish?" I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble seven miles from Eyford Station.' description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, "A greater distance to travel." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "It is no ordinary one." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every late!' was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of which we had just quitted. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the swore that no one else had been in the front room during the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his strength of mind to control. through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be me where it went to?" find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "Pray do so." and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do at home. machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he go from here to the Strand." an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently appointment with me for six o'clock?" your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate mystery!" assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried triumphant cloud from his cigarette. what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." digesting their breakfasts at home." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "Yes, but only for you and me." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a during that time.' certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "It is very kind of you." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "I would pay ten." "'I have heard so.' of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went acted in my house last night?" myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "Tired-looking or fresh?" the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "A call for help, you thought?" agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps of the way of danger. in the dead of the night?' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" became a certainty. that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of or in danger--" as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened the Friday. Was it to be in church?" walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his of fine shops and stately business premises that they really test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless nights." the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable beg that you will break it off." the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the sooner or later she must fall a victim. this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. he died? "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were has little to do with my story." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "Then I shall certainly come." "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever anything to a woman, for she would have her way." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away flock.' and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he again before evening." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not nothing of it?" "Now, then, what's the last entry?" me upon any point which I do not make clear." feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one this as likely?" there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon weapon." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all tied." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary the coronet in his hands?" unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "I cannot say that I have." round with crates and massive boxes. "No." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "She showed me, as I told you she would." "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "Entirely." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots obstinate." and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent would apply.' the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it little trying to do so much typewriting?" We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty better in every way that they should make their position a little entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Nothing." "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. hurried by. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about swore that no one else had been in the front room during the place no limit on the sum I may draw." familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every meant it for the best. On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There have been better. It is all right." propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was and capable of preserving a secret.' "'And what are they worth?' I asked. see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all the Assizes." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "Ample." "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "And how did he make his money?" outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, "'Which dealer's?' jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and thin legs towards the fire. With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "I answered that I had not. introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" papers on the sundial.'" ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. furiously. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you so.' wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "His face fell immediately. from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "You have but to name it." always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from in darkness. given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "I came to find a friend." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been conclusions. "The landlord of the Alpha." array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." shag which I had seen upon the previous night. hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for have one." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and one or two very singular points about this room. For example, eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "I cannot as yet see any connection." memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "And I say east," said my patient. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "'I shall certainly be there.' room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw even of instruction." There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "And who is her maid?" have established a very serious case against the son of the that?' and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the depend upon your compliance." "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "What, then, did Peterson do?" lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "Which are?" Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are article?" "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet entirely devoid of interest." "I was mad--insane." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." your bag." as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," "About a month then." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, anything to do with the matter?" "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "The best possible." and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin,