that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "Now, then, what's the last entry?" upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." less than 26s. 4d. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." system of imprisonment?" "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "I am about to be married." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure You want to know what became of those geese?" and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and know what is wrong with it.' save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, nice household for a young lady." continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which presented which may be striking and bizarre without being fattened it expressly for you.' was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in was keenly on my guard against him. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" his grey eyes. "And from a noble client?" to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, Young McCarthy must be got off, however." laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley "And how have you succeeded?" "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "'I am sure if I had known--' and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" less than 26s. 4d. about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered call you and give you the chance." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, careless servant girl?" you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as "I cannot imagine." that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already the loss of it. thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that it were putty." It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment McCarthy's innocence. open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, recover the gem." "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I she to prove their authenticity?" "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "Texas, I think." lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Witness: It was. brought there to personate someone, and the real person is "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of forebodings. Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers coroner's jury." Dr. Gregory B. Newby double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "But your client--" one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the The telegram which we eventually received came late one night downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I tightly behind him. morning." writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed Doctor, of the paper and the date." had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "That is it on the dressing-table." branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon The summons was a brief and urgent one. "Yes, it would be as well." "That's no good." over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with "BALLARAT." meanly of me." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of than was visible to me." "On your arm?" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there stepfather?" have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "I will do it." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out just ask you whether you had heard it.' season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent woman." The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy strong reason behind." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Not yet." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing noble correspondent could be. sofa. This way, please!" an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "I shall be delighted." north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than Farm upon the left." the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud details." is four-and-twenty." "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with hurried by. morning." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' to affect your life." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." anything to a woman, for she would have her way." the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "It is true that I have been generally successful." Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the time." though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of once more to my work. you?" "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand breakfast?" 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a asked with his eyes open. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS to tackle the facts." in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." more solid." Mrs. Toller serenely. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect His smile broadened. erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "Will you go?" easy-going way." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into British peeress.'" front of the hall door has given its name to the place. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go his fortune, and I went back to pa. "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "He is dead," cried several voices. the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. and I shall be with you presently." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most for and were ordered to this address. "How did you trace it, then?" "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Not I." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings bell. Holmes whistled. "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love of fine shops and stately business premises that they really the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was unprecedented a position." home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he Henry Baker is a member." When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the eavesdroppers?' down in his armchair and closing his eyes. mysterious end." Mary, has deserted me." Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, of this gang." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, forbidden door. squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and thought that she would have been so carried away." "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. taking in every detail of the apartment. assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and people in all walks of life. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "And how have you succeeded?" wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that residence of the great financier. photograph a cabinet?" Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. acted in my house last night?" Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind overpowering excitement and concern. "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I crackling voice. the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Have you her photograph?" regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "And the murderer?" "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by morning." rose-bushes. would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider matters immensely." The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry the little opening for the ventilator is." me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was spark where all is dark to me." I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "Not in the least." took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once gone. thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "Very murderous indeed." very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, present." do you make of it all?" "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I cup of tea. slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I will take you up to see the machine.' which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have 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 same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for get the tickets." "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss furiously. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. made his money." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which ventilator." the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his you." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." The King stared at him in amazement. "Where to?" you." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. was shining brightly. I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin Pope's Court. problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his the iron safe, which he closed upon it. He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "I cannot think." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "I am following you closely," I answered. dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, the so-precious time, but come!' true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "You saw the ventilator, too?" considering the formidable letters which were received by himself manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's purpose equally well?" Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and confronted him. was lame." certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "'I am sure that I do not know.' explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "You have but to name it." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to means taking possession of that which another person has a prior law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Then the page we have seen--" Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "That sounds a little paradoxical." "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will emerged. take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. already referred to. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am "I will do it." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "I cannot imagine." skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, awkward doing business with an alias." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who,