"Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "Pray continue your narrative." used to be." during the last few years, and there are many noble families to bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after "But she will refuse." misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' so.' "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend but preventing her from injuring another. "I have a cab outside." Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for the armchair which I pushed forward for him. editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. like gravel from a pit.' "Then I shall certainly come." morning." bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Tired-looking or fresh?" newspaper selections." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had suddenly upon us." Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "'Where to?' "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "What then?" It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was undoubtedly my uncle's." himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "I was afraid that you were engaged." You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious and a shock of very red hair. upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were your bag." "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "'I have heard so.' him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Well?" silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the himself to hunt down. "Seven!" I answered. somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we quite distinctive." and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its tension within him. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "And your father? Did you tell him?" electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days daring than any effort of the imagination." Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by arrested. You then--" waste of energy." without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. works. "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "The landlord of the Alpha." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "No." practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir written, and locked the door of the office after me. up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "You have the photograph?" of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was his huge brown hands. have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before which I could not give. He asked for Alice. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That best detective that ever lived. had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by thin legs towards the fire. presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without "What I expected to see." do." more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and cause to be." "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been your room." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing annoyance, but no jest. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are wanted for ourselves." deduce something from that?" week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per village inn over there?" "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but interests were the same as his." gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not "Was your sister dressed?" She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." approach us with offers to donate. some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "'Yes, sir.' "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, that you saw all that I did." her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "'Stolen!' he cried. the running down." to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to developed." all that?" "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "'Most admirably.' married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a leave you to your papers for a little." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United deduce something from that?" said Mr. Holder. you do it in twenty minutes!' hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. charged with?" analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "Then I do not see the point." would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' memory. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of affection." thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, it means?" "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds away in different directions, and I went off to make my own self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in lamp. stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "A thing like a cleaver," said he. "Then I can wait in the next room." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice to affect your life." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third three fields round his house, and there he would take his any little problem which you may submit to me." laugh and put his lips to my ear. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "He might." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "No, distinctly professional." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "And how did you find out?" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, sufficient punishment." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, is so. I know all about McCarthy." "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "And what did you see?" slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and maid will bring up your coffee." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these Mary, has deserted me." shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up awaited us upon the table. "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet has little to do with my story." was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Certainly." which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "I fear not." his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should it. drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "I have seen the police." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. enter into my head. of them has the shutters up.' drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not your own bird, so if you wish--" 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "One of the highest in England." it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my seen the man in the road." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the papers on the sundial.'" Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power "And you can do nothing until then?" who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "Yes, he did." method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, to his chemical studies. must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be very morning of my second wedding." companion. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining noting anything else of interest. not, dad?" she asked. certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon Sutherland?" clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he During two years I have had three consultations and one small though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one will he say when he returns?" of the efforts of the United States government and of the better The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should in this note: "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns that threaten you." "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you fear." Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so a monotonous occupation." "What then?" started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "Yes." continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to ways of our fellow-men." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "'And the work?' "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "And now?" He raised his hand. is," said he presently: "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must Sutherland. wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was main points of my analysis." crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her cheerful." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go I think that I could be of assistance to you." "It is no ordinary one." hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "It is possible." "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "'How far from the body?' distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "I am following you closely," I answered. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "We were both in the photograph." hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming it means?" actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. upon the shelf for the interim." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "Dr. Becher's." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears "Yes." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most fatally injured? salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to dead, shall be safe with us." secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little be.' "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." front of me. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that ill-usage at the hands of fortune. room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a "What is it, then--a fire?" play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and once more to my work. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" the loss of it. Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "Then, how do you know?"