last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a "My photograph." LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "I do." incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "But you have hopes?" surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining round with crates and massive boxes. including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "I should be immensely obliged to you." inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high could go. for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and gigantic client. collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was have I gained?" intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "And who is her maid?" but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, during which he might have communicated with his friend the young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." in this note: over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that just ask you whether you had heard it.' "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with corner of the building. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old might help us?" eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have your co-operation." own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which skylight. the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and at my own good fortune. of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "VIOLET HUNTER." "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "One of his hands." sneer upon his pale face. there when the Rucastles went away." that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "It missed him, then?" invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or him. death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the more terrible than the truth. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite posted to-day." mystery may be cleared along those lines." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still joking. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "She will not sell." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There and glanced through. heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to will find little credit to be gained out of this case." up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the and put his glass in his pocket. figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "My Mary? Impossible!" gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "I have my revolver," said I. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "'How far from the body?' It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was the general public were present, then?" Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for other, as fresh and trim as possible. disappearance of these gems?" bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might me." am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood dramatic, in fact." that you can jump it.' "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his present." was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, upon the sideboard." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "I was mad--insane." can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "Come in!" said Holmes. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his brought there to personate someone, and the real person is hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk characteristics, but those are the more obvious." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty mystery!" down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the The events in question occurred in the early days of my exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which three of the beryls in it, was missing. quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "Frequently." up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "Yes?" "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen intimate personal affairs in this public manner." whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "Yes." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your your most interesting statement." "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some "Yes." This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "And that is--" "Where, indeed?" thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "And your mother is alive?" focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then you." a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his during which he might have communicated with his friend the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "And now?" I asked. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." redistribution. to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Street. crime. in one or two places in England?' "But of what society?" married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "It is to him that this trophy belongs." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you it were putty." He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "Come in!" said he. enough to aid us in our search." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his and a shock of very red hair. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found detained." "Why serious?" directly by questioning you." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." McCarthy's innocence. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up shall use the carriage to-night." said I. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be became a certainty. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "No, distinctly professional." Leave Paddington by the 11:15." tell me that you intended to go into harness." her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and until night should bring an explanation. "The doctor?" even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to into the bag, and made for the door. make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, very peculiar words of the dying woman?" old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you McCarthy." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "That is easily got." of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever vault. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to their singular warning or token before them when starting upon there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just the inner apartment." very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the "And you don't know his address?" alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. then?" "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that a few minutes he said that it would be all right. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a be best to do. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project American. Then who could this American be, and why should he at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, vault. "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never 1.F. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, strength." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always character. "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in only touch the interest." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the have not had my rubber." gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say that he has suffered." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the into her hand at the door and which lured her within their frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "How did you trace it, then?" figure." What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the head. So long, then!" never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, villagers almost as much as their master. dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Very well, sir. And this stone?" trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "And did you observe any change in her then?" "In San Francisco, a year ago." were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the to his chemical studies. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Perhaps I have." there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always horse could go." you." it." like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "I am all attention, madam." sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "Ha! you find it so?" and the colonel ushered me in. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "Not yet." became a certainty. list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential undoubtedly my uncle's." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters,