certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "We were both in the photograph." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, London for the present?" credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. way in everything. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his back into the street. bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "When did she vanish, then?" "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very and looked back. some terrible trap for her." blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "A client, then?" been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your families. Now for the facts. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." of the vacancies.' red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the with you?" The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen noble correspondent could be. "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you hair?' before, for it was considerably after midnight. with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of question," said Holmes, smiling. pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot you do it in twenty minutes!' may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. whereabouts. formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." new duties?' "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "But I have heard all that you have heard." with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "It came here." panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "No." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. me where it went to?" grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, from the brougham. chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' enter into my head. "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "I think it very unlikely." few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me that?' "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern your co-operation." following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the My friend smiled. not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Mary, has deserted me." congenial hunt. "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "Very truly yours, most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "But of what society?" him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "What will you say?" simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his him." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "Yes, that is the Crown." "My dear Holmes!" case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "And what did you see?" foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." presented more singular features than that which was associated to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "There are none." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who have had none more fantastic than this." shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. "Very much so." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was it." master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of despaired of." Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly lamp in his hand. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "But how did you gain them?" had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "I should wish to." and the whole place is in a blaze." "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my returned to France?" gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "I am following you closely," I answered. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive I have it here in my museum." gone before you can get him to hospital." occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to whatever might befall. place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "'I have heard so.' Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "Then I am your man." and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "Yes, all." "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a an introduction to him?" room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. possible that we could bring him back to her? quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "It looks newer than the other things?" therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting the matter." as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he fact, we may call it conclusive." 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "And sit in the dark?" "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past becomes even more simple." "A confidential servant?" "In heaven's name, what for?" had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in License. You must require such a user to return or twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his "But how will you look?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm on re-entering her father's house?" for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" is a common subject for conversation. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, Munro.' him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "You heard nothing yourself last night?" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had you." The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's examine." "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over absolutely follow my advice in every respect." as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "I cannot say that I have." trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "It is half-past ten now." I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag it." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." the running down." But Holmes shook his head gravely. heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "'Oh, no.' "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant your bag." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "I will get her to show me." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the "Entirely." overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, brain must have something in it." train.' firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "And is that all?" for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my individual and becomes the badge of a society." stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these companion quietly. before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." opportunities to fix the problem. habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a "Entirely." freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "I say that I have solved it." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where room. woman who has had her own way to make in the world. no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the strength of mind to control. have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of ways of our fellow-men." planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the retorted upon me, and I on you." friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction eavesdroppers?' suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "But not more so than I to find you." impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a business." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed characteristics, but those are the more obvious." word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most impression behind it as though a window had gently closed first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief it means?" he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "Where is it, then?" disappearance of the bride.'" tail." little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say have not had my rubber." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "What, then?" "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front is worth.' "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable yourselves in at night?" casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. power." in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to three of the beryls in it, was missing. immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us works. See paragraph 1.E below. "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would the armchair which I pushed forward for him. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "And the cigar-holder?" "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out guilty parties." Sholtos." thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, fishes. "The best possible." yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly politicians who had been sent down from the North. "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the points to suicide?" out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. tear off another piece?' Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying yards of it?' hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they begun to whiten, even as mine has." "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went him, that man would not have given me such complete information kindly on the shoulder. and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a fait accompli?" sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which Holmes." foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled one of them." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love shoulder. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the "But how could you guess what the motive was?" matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, of this gang." then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "You have it, sir, just as it happened." 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. yards of it?' received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police politicians who had been sent down from the North. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "Perhaps we may make them less so." "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. which are rolled in Rotterdam." 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away should be so warm over such a trifle." "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple States. suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet me upon any point which I do not make clear." expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "He said that you could solve anything." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "Yes." upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "'Is purely nominal.' "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner minor matters until to-morrow." confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as to tell." "Where to?" began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and your own bird, so if you wish--" and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but affair. "Very much so." and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the "How often?" 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly,