"'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "Yes." here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "And Miss Sutherland?" Pope's Court. it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "It is possible." avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "'Where to?' "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "And help." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "Was your sister dressed?" so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of this as likely?" It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the McCarthy's innocence. have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" been shamefully used." traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the "You saw the ventilator, too?" matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I and that he would see to anything that turned up. waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "None." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her made his money." opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "So I have heard." sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the arms and began to sob in a high treble key. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, round and wave him away like that.' he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and you want, then?' but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he way in everything. "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. the very morning of the wedding." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure arms and began to sob in a high treble key. age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, was a loud and authoritative tap. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress lamp. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the you." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age some place of shelter and let the county police know what has forebodings. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I newspaper selections." was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Have you her photograph?" Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, better in every way that they should make their position a little "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before woman who has had her own way to make in the world. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "And I say east," said my patient. ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into skylight. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "And what did you see?" pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" "Her father is very rich?" was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my troubles have been weighing upon his mind. Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in definite end. bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. on re-entering her father's house?" "And now?" He raised his hand. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly lost nothing by them." building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "Perhaps I have." sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "No." Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family you." "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and I approached. Miss Holder?" the room while you explain this matter?" desk. meant it for the best. "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of there has been an enclosure here!" the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the telegram would bring me down to your help." "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a since then to throw any light upon what became of him." frequently gained my first real insight into the character of "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and of Mr. Rucastle's." Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "You have a clue?" again before evening." coroner's jury." and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." said I. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully it were putty." week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the Countess of Morcar's?" union?" can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I amused." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple maid will bring up your coffee." "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole distinguish the words: "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his asked. not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with Holmes' face clouded over. "'About the same.' "Absolutely none." his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence easy-going way." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "It surprised me." "Yes." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "They are typewritten," I remarked. thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. felt the room to be a little close.' pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and corner of the building. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that were new raised from a basin. "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, notes," he said. takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the posted to-day." have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed returned to France?" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. little adventures." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "When did it break out?" inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after believe that I should never have any practice at all. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "I see many objections to any such theory." "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." without a word or a look. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich been deceived." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." gentleman's clothes. "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you bed dies. Does not that strike you?" the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction carriage. It was a chestnut." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "No, I had a dozen." fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. It was close upon four before the door opened, and a or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work have I gained?" "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case house for five minutes.' "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "There is the writing." closing the door. lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is three of the beryls in it, was missing. here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my ways including including checks, online payments and credit card dead, shall be safe with us." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." interests were the same as his." have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my these bleak autumnal evenings." hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to III. upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you compunction about shooting them down." a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried and that he would see to anything that turned up. Holmes. The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the delirious. "No." over part of the map. "What do you read?" up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. asked with his eyes open. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have not interfere, come what may. You understand?" even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "Which surely he restored to their owner?" believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "No, I am descending." "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a a good hundred miles off by now." still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know was a loud and authoritative tap. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted into her hand at the door and which lured her within their my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or matters immensely." without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed key of the affair now." what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies My friend smiled. "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. works. See paragraph 1.E below. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "A client, then?" accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a cigars in their mouths. where Mr. Fordham shows you.' "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." "I have a cab outside." "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We Eyford." "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and the dangers which encompass me." send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "I never have." upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be This is what he says: I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention happened." succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action up this clue while it is still hot." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal invisible to me," I remarked. go--none." along the entire front of the house, with three long windows Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "'No, I know no one in these parts.' reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted success. dates and names. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "Yes?" mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been points in connection with it which never have been, and probably fattened it expressly for you.' of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to "No more words. Get out!" until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "When did it break out?" usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in this poor creature." on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he