sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "'Stolen!' he cried. The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of such attractions and accomplishments?' "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, the bottom.' came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw business came to an end." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, Street. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "So it appears." his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we frequently gained my first real insight into the character of his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to test if we have an answer to our advertisement." dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know fluttered off among the others. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is of this gang." "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. dear old homesteads?" find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my "Yes." are windows in it, of course?" disappearance of these gems?" by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal money should be paid at once.' graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "I was sure that I might rely on you." looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point enough to aid us in our search." effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, sake, don't!" eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were in him." hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "'I have heard so.' down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will "My dear Holmes!" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "I shall be delighted." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you the general public were present, then?" "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event of note-paper. It read in this fashion: fishes. "'Yes.' "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "What then?" creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know conclusions. "And for present expenses?" "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, so.' blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very the coroner come to?" the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "What then?" my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence questioning and rather startled gaze. people don't know." "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the http://gutenberg.net/license). foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and this remarkable episode. photograph?" endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I this remarkable episode. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "You think that he is dead?" by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had amused." and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left with the outside air!" shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." along the entire front of the house, with three long windows his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all which was all perfectly true. PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I is four-and-twenty." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to said he. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would daring than any effort of the imagination." crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey and the church but not where the lady lived." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all "Yes, but only for you and me." conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." written, and locked the door of the office after me. "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason now. It seems that there had been some informality about their six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, during that time.' landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked kind enough to tell me what I should do." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of of it with the greatest attention. form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger rat could hardly pass through." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the bears upon the case?" younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "What then?" Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than is entirely a question of barometric pressure." pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' voice, changing her seat as requested. "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "You saw the ventilator, too?" conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "'I am sure if I had known--' number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so the devil!" said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to a good hundred miles off by now." you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "We must sit without light. He would see it through the hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried speckled band?" public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing danger is over." gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. little trying to do so much typewriting?" grasp, he hurried from the room. went to the Alpha were town bred." from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "Did your wife hear all this?" cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, results." no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see which it had come upon my father." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he correct than the official force." 'I should be able to look after that for you.' We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps ready to-morrow?' unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one extraordinary contortions. facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has locked. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his "But the mystery?" problems help me to do so." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "Ten will be early enough." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing "Was she in good spirits?" seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms politicians who had been sent down from the North. The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by front of me. from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little interest. They are important, you understand, without being fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. morning." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as during that time.' pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man upon a handsome competence. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must question. make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his once more. said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the away to you." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "My dear Holmes!" one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I be there in time for your coming." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to other means.' gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the in one or two places in England?' pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "Look there!" said he. and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the disappearance of the bride.'" his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me leave you to your papers for a little." remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of call for protection in the marriage market, for the present with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project call the police, let the police find what they can.' very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "I am armed." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "Then he might have called to you?" Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "I think it very unlikely." last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "She walked into the breakfast-room." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which few hundred pounds.' "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "No, distinctly professional." the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "You horrify me!" "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was the ceiling. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and could not have written that. It is the German who is so outside." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he had picked up in the wood. was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for you came in." him. congenial hunt. heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no to tell." ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "No, my brougham is waiting." drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if "By train from Waterloo." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been felt?" day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I guilty one." was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "My dear Holmes!" Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father maiden herself was most instructive." foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a been lifted and conveyed somewhere." having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "At half-wages, in fact." sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly lumber-room." "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "None." wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was really the only notable feature about the thing." developed." gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would nonsense.' "Well?" shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "'And the work?' We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. you." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an