"God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her the very letters. But what is this written above them?' chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the yards of it?' trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "What of the rat, then?" Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you "That also I could fathom." "Ample." A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "No, thank goodness, she did not." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body in his power. "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the it with his own hands." her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended wedding?" back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." desk. swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and that you can jump it.' Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly shag which I had seen upon the previous night. shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him are, I think, all that we need." Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" there in twenty minutes." even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when one's self under obligations.' "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "It is his hat." "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" I shall communicate with you." "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Yes." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes to have been novel and of interest." remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the forbidden door. square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. he. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which felt the room to be a little close.' way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "But how will you look?" knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are because she had spent so short a time in this country that she daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had straightened it out again. "Not I." "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. to where he stood hid behind the curtain. we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich his forehead." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "That is easily got." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an tapping his fingers upon the table. more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can Doctor, of the paper and the date." you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have of campaign. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "Of what?" "Yes, he did." the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "I was certainly surprised to find you there." was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman hour." superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking room. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which fatally injured? Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I a monotonous occupation." "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem cause to be." question you as to those details which seem to me to be most that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. himself to tell his story. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called away into the river." he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at to-night?" I asked. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "I think that I had better go, Holmes." 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was with frightened eyes at his accuser. standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, became a certainty. familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with cup of tea. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she she has been waylaid. There has been no result." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "Proceed, then." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so you in your example." "Has he come with you to-night?" "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "Will you bet, then?" Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine "Not particularly." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of front of me. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to have had none more fantastic than this." seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "No. His orders were to stay in the house." boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "On Monday." "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which is a common subject for conversation. to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "Can I be of assistance?" time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I be. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "So I have heard." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and presented more singular features than that which was associated the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have Stoke Moran." cause to be." harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, eat it." "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he with you alone." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to daring than any effort of the imagination." Holmes' face clouded over. I have it here in my museum." There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "No, distinctly professional." "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" "How did that help you?" past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a him. right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, about here speaks of his kindness to him." quick march!" however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the your own bird, so if you wish--" "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "In San Francisco, a year ago." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Why, what do you mean?" and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. matter." Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "How did you trace it, then?" To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she whereabouts. in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy prisoner's face. landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, will find little credit to be gained out of this case." may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "Witness: It was. sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining better grown goose." eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of I am not easy in my mind about them." have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." It may be so in this case, also." present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible Holmes rather sternly. her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was nights." therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "Here?" this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "None." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat said I. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred front of the hall door has given its name to the place. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. "Yes, but only for you and me." was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin bird I ate is country bred." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "I came to find a friend." It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not straighten it?" Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental outbreak?" He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared third from London." departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. seen the man in the road." on re-entering her father's house?" stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it memory. "'What then?' I asked. "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "I have seen the police." himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern asked. it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "I guessed as much." "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. if she died from some sudden fright." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "I assure you that I am in your hands." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises until night should bring an explanation. about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. was a perfect sample of the class. pound a week." "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my should be taken.' of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend fatally injured? rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body nights." this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At him to go away.' "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we DISSOLVED. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "Why did you beat the pavement?" The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "Was she in good spirits?" "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "Not him." side. ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when like gravel from a pit.' your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "I will not look." time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down DAMAGE. was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two corner of the building. delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the get her out of the way." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon all that?" so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "We must sit without light. He would see it through the case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "No." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." during which he might have communicated with his friend the which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "Not in the least." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on conduct the inquiry." hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country forehead. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to