"Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our amused." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "What then?" "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the skylight. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to without success. At last the little money which I had saved began from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal a monotonous occupation." At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do hardly wander." events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "Did you become engaged then?" remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another dates and names. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "'And what are they worth?' I asked. Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "It may not come to that," said Holmes. unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "A greater distance to travel." it means?" those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "You are all wrong." at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "Yes." It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy acquaintance?" the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "Yes, from Horsham." the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, meanly of me." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey this truth that in these little records of our cases which you bonnet, and went out." an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The business." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a invisible to me," I remarked. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is I shall continue with my miserable story. "No bad?" however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few the driver. they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "I never have." to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it everything which you would wish to know." closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few that you can jump it.' empty. Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. at my remark. and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We do." France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." is a common subject for conversation. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked this Miss Turner." were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "No." "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, be best to do. of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "And why?" with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. in one or two places in England?' "'Ten to two.' promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on be.' Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "I promise," said Holmes. one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, comes from the middle window." imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." asked with his eyes open. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "Indeed! Whose, then?" and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan was a perfect sample of the class. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, is now desirous of getting those letters back." rooms." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "You are certainly joking, Holmes." envelope. upon the white wrist. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the a good hundred miles off by now." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps October 9, 1890. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the woven round him. conduct the inquiry." at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "What! Had he lost his wife?" at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a foot. said he. "I assure you that I am in your hands." she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as the coronet in his hands?" standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "Can I be of assistance?" address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have meanly of me." already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any death." staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "You were travelling in the States?" "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or she to prove their authenticity?" doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then to Leatherhead. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Then he might have called to you?" at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted room?" the stones. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray and the whole place is in a blaze." However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may have got?" "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life get the tickets." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend crackling voice. "I think that it is very probable." "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "She showed me, as I told you she would." uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. fluttered off among the others. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read *** START: FULL LICENSE *** active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. face and glided from the room. it." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, a suggestive one." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at troubles have been weighing upon his mind. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The shag which I had seen upon the previous night. help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "'You doubt its value?' he asked. registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at "No, but the enclosure is." come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban in his hands." minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from http://gutenberg.net/license). for securing the situation." to have been novel and of interest." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he the coroner come to?" while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "Yes." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "When did it break out?" A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Was there a secret marriage?" window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side hurried away. have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door the coroner come to?" business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "Proceed, then." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set thought that she would have been so carried away." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not developed." of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Holmes, the busybody!" "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "'I am sure if I had known--' http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "I am following you closely," I answered. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how most interesting one." off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "Where, then, is my wife?" shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is "'Most admirably.' Farm upon the left." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "Not social, then?" was it brought him the coronet? through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and once more for Briony Lodge. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you "Nothing." did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." opened a pocket-book and took out a note. Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. down from London to inquire more deeply into it." lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is http://www.gutenberg.net side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to to go into your room and bar your shutters?" extraordinary contortions. allusion to a rat. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. be sorry for having acted so harshly." later, upon the night of May 2nd." into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally might have a private word with us. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. instincts rose up against that laugh. could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated fishes. me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious ill-usage at the hands of fortune. done what I asked you, Jones?" following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do secret." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending "How did he come?" we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Will you go?" point our research must commence, and we will begin it by whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the already referred to. some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "You have the photograph?" "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "If so, much may have happened between." that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but was already answered. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. horse could go." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, "'Ample.' George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "One horse?" interjected Holmes. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. emerged. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid persecution?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never photograph a cabinet?" I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first plantation.' man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern outbreak?" generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the "Won't it ring?" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in be.' old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he the station." overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, the loss of it. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead whole matter to your consideration." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and sufficient punishment." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, charge against him will break down." go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped derbies." with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Married! When?" there." however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "You are certainly joking, Holmes." behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened tear off another piece?' thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "None." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "No." strange features which were associated with the two crimes which the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "In the cells." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there weary and pale-looking. end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese."