fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. in this note: Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid "Well, some hundreds of times." my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to introspective fashion. strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that has little to do with my story." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "He disappeared so suddenly." "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Well, some hundreds of times." suspect him." as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "'A dozen yards or so.' station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their "The decline of his fortunes, then?" right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "Who was the criminal, then?" impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of strong and stiff." We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and death." admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of strode off upon his way. from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter vault. "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I than was visible to me." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "But he might be a bachelor." figure." it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" placed his cuttings. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and "I should like to see him very much." desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "And how?" you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a too. "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have hereditary King of Bohemia." actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door "No." present." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "'You cannot say what it was?' "Do you go out much in society?" chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "Then I can wait in the next room." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant learned something! Where are the gems?" dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a train from Paddington which would bring you there at about "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She was feeling which was the fattest.' "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." considering the formidable letters which were received by himself rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. directors, with the result that you have seen." neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. and a shock of very red hair. us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "From his hat?" himself to hunt down. actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a an introduction to him?" this poor creature." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "Then you may entirely rely on me." "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was ceremony." editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a Chief Executive and Director residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My friend's singular character. been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him "Where, then?" "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The strong reason behind." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "'Entirely.' you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "Will you go?" points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little gone before you can get him to hospital." shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "But I am all in the dark." "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." acquaintance?" country, and eventually married, without anyone having a fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "I am to be neutral?" beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, heavily into it. of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." weighed down with some great anxiety. would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "I shall most certainly do so." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "I will, Miss Turner." your co-operation." "I cannot imagine." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and business." mysterious business." the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "Thank you. And your address?" memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily "And that is--" and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "What then?" then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. http://gutenberg.net/license). words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': up this clue while it is still hot." "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones the inquest, and which are worth considering." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "Where to?" This is what he says: general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom strong reason behind." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "It is half-past ten now." fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." best detective that ever lived. Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her joking. a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "Upon what point?" the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was a monotonous occupation." is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the suspect him." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the on re-entering her father's house?" miles off. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and shall use the carriage to-night." room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon "'I shall certainly be there.' relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us dear old homesteads?" glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "'Certainly,' I answered. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears mystery!" prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and is so. I know all about McCarthy." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about to where he stood hid behind the curtain. gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the mysterious business." weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "What will you do, then?" back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed to you." "And your mother is alive?" no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured "Never." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "We have tried and failed." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "What!" he roared. "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by hair?' papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "Then you may be so with me." and the colonel ushered me in. five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The himself to tell his story. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, the matter?" "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition "That is not always so easy." "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." to affect your life." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "I have my revolver," said I. "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met compunction about shooting them down." sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he of fine shops and stately business premises that they really Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "You are certainly joking, Holmes." confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which my secret was safe in his possession. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall what is your own theory as to what took place?" "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it invisible to me," I remarked. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "No good news?" with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to fattened it expressly for you.' "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "A call for help, you thought?" Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, in the port of London." his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. coroner's jury." "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "Precisely." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "And help." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. guilty parties." My friend smiled. "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into enter Dr. Roylott's room." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I careless servant girl?" painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler that you wished to speak to me?' the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the never to learn it at all." repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "'How far from the body?' deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a "And why in hopes?" your most interesting statement." places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a your co-operation." so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced matter." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you security.' agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" problems help me to do so." "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" young Openshaw's." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little with frightened eyes at his accuser. window when the police appeared." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." intimate personal affairs in this public manner." of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in,