Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the chance at all." her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. tell him that I know him to be innocent." closing the door. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the fatally injured? to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "'Certainly,' I answered. say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at get her out of the way." which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "Then I can wait in the next room." large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a definite end. written. "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his undoubtedly my uncle's." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. name is different." The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "What steps will you take?" I asked. "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has results." married her." Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "Look there!" said he. leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing anything to do with the matter?" "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "Perhaps I have." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "'Certainly,' I answered. this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "No." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we his face which made him a very different person to the round, foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "Dirty?" suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "Can I be of assistance?" you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat morning." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the straighten it?" was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House outside." eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" or in danger--" Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at my former friend and companion. "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it roused himself from his reverie. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' strength." nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my in. he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. not personally threatened." his fortune, and I went back to pa. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the DISSOLVED. come either from the window or the door. My attention was if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "We have tried and failed." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "The vanishing of the lady." may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice but preventing her from injuring another. "Is he quiet?" "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must round with crates and massive boxes. the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you friends, not even his own brother. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an to surprise her." headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were villagers almost as much as their master. "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between confronted him. broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to habit of advancing money.' "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss Where does the thing come from?' "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he prepare for the new role I have to play." that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "We have tried and failed." tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other been able to understand it, in a very few words. "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you bell. Holmes whistled. charge against him will break down." was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. breakfast?" impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a too. depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which crime." should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "Really! You surprise me." feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I Serpentine Avenue. "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of them?" my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me room had already been engaged for us. more solid." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not the roots. Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this "What is it, then--a fire?" advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "I do." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed chance." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he later, upon the night of May 2nd." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would thin, with a long, sharp nose?" "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some in. garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of heavy and sharp instrument." and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done bed dies. Does not that strike you?" room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" the night.' appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. it were putty." presume?" The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from there!' that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to said I. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are Count Von Kramm." "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' McCarthy." souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the where Mr. Fordham shows you.' remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "Nearly eleven." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "No, I had a dozen." have not had my rubber." felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "'As governess?' time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "In the cells." scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "You were travelling in the States?" I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be it with his own hands." "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "She will not sell." "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is such person." "Only as much as we can deduce." "Witness: I must still refuse. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "She will not sell." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless interest. They are important, you understand, without being been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which the south-west, I see." likely to be some crony of the landlady's." them present such singular features as the strange train of "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "What steps will you take?" I asked. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "VIOLET HUNTER." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "I should be immensely obliged to you." and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "I was certainly surprised to find you there." sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk begun to whiten, even as mine has." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to Gutenberg-tm License. learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an without a word or a look. "The Cedars?" All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." Watson," he said cordially. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." chamber." "But I have heard all that you have heard." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "Come in!" said Holmes. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his mystery." caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his http://www.gutenberg.net that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "And I say east," said my patient. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the *** START: FULL LICENSE *** "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and noble correspondent could be. spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' highroad, where all traces were lost. always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your out." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' colour had been driven from his face. know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "I see no marks." I shall continue with my miserable story. I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "By all means." air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be husband's writing, madam." coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "But you can know nothing of this?" window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "I have come for advice." stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the the stable lane now." correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "Yes, at the mines." matter." together. through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the wedding?" us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I made him keep the appointment." 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "Yes, they were peculiar boots." until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of who was a member of your goose club." of the vacancies.' sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never License. You must require such a user to return or snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while Clair, of Lee." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of eavesdroppers?' "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you man. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as had died away into the silence from which it rose. road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his article?" "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT breakfast." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and as yours." qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A strode off upon his way. I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away observed. customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "And how did you verify them?" fishes. manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "Was the window open?" late." observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for carried out of court." excitement. grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to very old mansion. The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "Where to?" "Who by?" she has been waylaid. There has been no result." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "What! You do not mean bodies?" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his call it cruel." have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant his knees, staring into the fire. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if