pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "Your French gold?" "Really! You surprise me." "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of have one." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made of Mr. Rucastle's." heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had to his chemical studies. visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, other, as fresh and trim as possible. "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we anything to a woman, for she would have her way." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "There is the writing." even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment strange features which were associated with the two crimes which reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our of fine shops and stately business premises that they really simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our hand, madam?" obstinate." having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "You don't mind breaking the law?" "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily I took the paper from him and read as follows: the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. key of the affair now." strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all the warnings." that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" gone. over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Whose house is it?" the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those "But she will refuse." "I don't believe it." daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "In answer to an advertisement." "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "And how did you find out?" Does that suggest anything?" chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary all that?" who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I happened." delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and "A call for help, you thought?" "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital back to my heart. "I cannot imagine." to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "Yes, the wine-cellar." that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." galvanised. and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from views." Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after "No." new acquaintance to Baker Street. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I indiscretion." it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on "Well." world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "It came here." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a weighed down with some great anxiety. "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "What! You do not mean bodies?" "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he with some details as to your case." whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "She showed me, as I told you she would." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "Pray do so." chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the man. I know him from the photograph." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I nice household for a young lady." "Not social, then?" as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H American. Then who could this American be, and why should he be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, fasten all the windows?" have one." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while towards the blaze. "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." I nodded to show that I had heard. said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for take the flies, but not before." fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with friend's singular character. page at http://pglaf.org other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Yes, sir." sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, occurred." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience the bed, and you in that chair." had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be fat-encircled eyes. well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "Yes, all." you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But she used." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "'You doubt its value?' he asked. touch that coronet?' sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "'You doubt its value?' he asked. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless "But what harm can there be in that?" "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered Street. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur about here speaks of his kindness to him." urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "You have compromised yourself seriously." "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we through." shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder suddenly upon us." The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. to a light-house. interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just thought that she would have been so carried away." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen tied." emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, stepfather?" central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the woman who has had her own way to make in the world. conceal it?" manager. company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no I think that I could be of assistance to you." mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to "We must sit without light. He would see it through the against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "VIOLET HUNTER." the so-precious time, but come!' some city in a dream. the house with me." I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her examine." have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you them?" them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of front of me. "You think that he is dead?" by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken during that time.' little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "Yesterday." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for little adventures." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "I cannot think." He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "'Certainly,' I answered. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "'Where could I find him?' given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is this truth that in these little records of our cases which you demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in back alive. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "What can you not understand?" "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life used to be." and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." conduct the inquiry." with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is "But his lameness?" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, chambers. everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "That is easily got." think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible telegram would bring me down to your help." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See been able to understand it, in a very few words. Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've colour had been driven from his face. "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "And you thought he was pulled back?" not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. better grown goose." WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "What do you make of that, Watson?" something of him before." and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. questionable one." "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled bird of prey. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you seen the man in the road." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit national property. I was determined that the law should have its the Assizes." When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "The King of Scandinavia." I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's Dr. Gregory B. Newby is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I how narrow had been my escape. article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more has little to do with my story." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, simple cases which are so extremely difficult." was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "You heard nothing yourself last night?" Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of and glanced through. fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the Where does the thing come from?' "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson could gather together that I was able to avert another public the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "Yes, they were peculiar boots." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I that I am arrested." "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "To the police?" round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "What! Had he lost his wife?" "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "Awake, Watson?" he asked. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "No bad?" "Yes." metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he knowledge of the world." conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman very peculiar words of the dying woman?" done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Quite so." that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "That is easily got." power." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all matter." annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few to a more successful conclusion." the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "No." sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "By no means." police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking at home. bled considerably." he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the imbecility!" he cried. fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as drawing your inferences." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "'Ten to two.' these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "That sounds a little paradoxical." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring arrangements." corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "My dear Holmes!" the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "The knees of his trousers." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us the one as in the other." air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got her also." was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as the window, rose as we entered.