Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "She showed me, as I told you she would." there when the Rucastles went away." black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated happened." "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project and laid it on the table. "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital returning from some small jollification and was making his way in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a has little to do with my story." future lives." "But how?" "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few the driver. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As everything which you would wish to know." remarked. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "And the murderer?" reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand out of this horrible affair." the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Pray be precise as to details," said he. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. compunction about shooting them down." children over to America with him, so that I found myself without bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "How did you deduce the select?" "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first woman." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest of this gang." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. over part of the map. "What do you read?" is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns just called myself is not exactly my own." "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "But how will you look?" Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was place of silver." "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' there is a decided draught." imbecility!" he cried. perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The you?' and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the presented more singular features than that which was associated him." I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which prepare for the new role I have to play." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over within hail.' you." morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the the ceiling. happened." "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. intrusion of other matters." sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Yes, sir." asked. cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was at my remark. "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss the driver. the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon sofa. This way, please!" a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "How did he come?" "I guessed as much." red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away Cross for the Continent." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "'Is 4 pounds a week.' sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "VIOLET HUNTER." the salesman. platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "'What then?' I asked. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT of it with the greatest attention. Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes highroad, where all traces were lost. "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Certainly, madam." nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, the bottom.' you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "My private note-paper." "Absolutely none." maid will bring up your coffee." tail." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use the side-table." joking. warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you that I am arrested." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "Yes, all." tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is in my life." your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that notes," he said. taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Entirely." and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any Mary, has deserted me." "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he late." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "By no means." named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." Pope's Court. other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." stood on the top of it. arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your "None." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "Won't it ring?" the very morning of the wedding." read over the extraordinary announcement. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and bare slabs of marble. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "I am to be neutral?" "That is it on the dressing-table." theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was roused himself from his reverie. seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "'Is purely nominal.' brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest important." however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and sofa. This way, please!" "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the so far?" and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "Nothing?" any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the case before our client came into the room." "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "He disappeared so suddenly." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she people in all walks of life. our word." been able to understand it, in a very few words. the roots. nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my questionable one." occupations.' brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of Lestrade of Scotland Yard." the coronet in his hands?" main points of my analysis." "Nothing." sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "He is dead," cried several voices. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a weapon." "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a wife's character?" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What spare." speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little events, Mr. Windibank!" his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "You forget that I know nothing about it." Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the confronted him. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a been deceived." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his Watson," he said cordially. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. children over to America with him, so that I found myself without "I promise," said Holmes. important." chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my relation between them, and what the object of his repeated husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a disappearance of these gems?" "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "On the contrary, this is the right side." him!" endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door may never be exposed to such a temptation." "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in seven miles from Eyford Station.' hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "I shall be delighted." an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "They are typewritten," I remarked. man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" child?' and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout easy-going way." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me was keenly on my guard against him. thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, the matter?" reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, Sutherland?" The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for gigantic client. "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William be.' month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "I answered that I had not. me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind be best to do. Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." daring than any effort of the imagination." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in upon a handsome competence. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the it. the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get the Friday. Was it to be in church?" utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you maid will bring up your coffee." matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and again on its way. happened." Arthur Conan Doyle not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "I would pay ten." upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "The murder was done with it." and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of train from Paddington which would bring you there at about were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been I have it here in my museum." "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "I have come for advice." in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "It is half-past ten now." pity, because in other respects you would really have done very there has been an enclosure here!" prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church "Here?" produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "Why did you pick him?" "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the heavily into it. about here speaks of his kindness to him." "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "By all means." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes letters?"