She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any "I guessed as much." "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little round with crates and massive boxes. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "Now, then, what's the last entry?" The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "My own seal." matter over." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Eh? What was that?" in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. "Yes, he did." but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "It is his hat." "No, finished." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must one of the states of the Union." my room." hand, madam?" companion. deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a you want, then?' "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I goes." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should felt the room to be a little close.' gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "Frequently." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "But his lameness?" to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "'A dozen yards or so.' why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well habit of advancing money.' "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are a very grave face. "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "You have the photograph?" of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning intrusion of other matters." Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third derbies." Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and window when the police appeared." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same excitement. as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was your troubles." "'I shall certainly be there.' into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of to that open window." confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to hour?' think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a approach us with offers to donate. end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from the inquest, and which are worth considering." near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be Literary Archive Foundation empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said occupations.' "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in hopeless attempt at recovering them." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was the ceiling. "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two noting anything else of interest. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out the very letters. But what is this written above them?' business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Yes, the wine-cellar." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of possible that we could bring him back to her? well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "Deserted you?" used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "You have but to name it." rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "Then I do not see the point." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "But how did you gain them?" success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. least a most suspicious remark." "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her what do you think they found in the pockets?" broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "Where, then, is my wife?" "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I everything which you would wish to know." "It goes to the housekeeper's room." Edgeware Road. The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the despaired of." "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his status with the IRS. these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" is acting for the best. a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a that?' was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of his grey eyes. clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "How did that help you?" should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "And your father? Did you tell him?" the night.' His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn "That was it, sir." of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "Did you become engaged then?" 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "How often?" Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose October 9, 1890. with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and himself in a perplexing position. "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I chill to my heart. "10th. John Swain cleared. France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "In San Francisco, a year ago." "Dr. Becher's." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was late!' I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his ventilator." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "You are hungry," I remarked. between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an absorbing." "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought silent! Oh, he will be silent!' and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the to tell." "When did she vanish, then?" the room while you explain this matter?" assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a you?" "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled to affect your life." pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we together. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, in this way: "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind the address that was given us in the advertisement. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "It missed him, then?" you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet the nursery. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. down in his armchair and closing his eyes. states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "Entirely." "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his charged with?" Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." him." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "Then you may be so with me." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with with her." "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "And how did you find out?" like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, taking in every detail of the apartment. "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "None. Neville wrote those words." up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last approach us with offers to donate. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook compunction about shooting them down." that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. call the police, let the police find what they can.' "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his was already answered. "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who "My dear Holmes!" Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "It missed him, then?" "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we to take care of herself." "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. highly," said Holmes. while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle License. You must require such a user to return or premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "And why?" "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" this as likely?" frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took points in connection with it which never have been, and probably with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a fled together." Cross for the Continent." give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some 1.E.9. "Holmes, the busybody!" clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "I know where it is." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the companion imperturbably. still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" closing the door. the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. will not take me long to tell. "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's done what I asked you, Jones?" dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the leaning back in his chair. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the excitement. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat wedding?" asked. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. three fields round his house, and there he would take his that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to it." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and intimate personal affairs in this public manner." read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred until night should bring an explanation. Lee, in the county of Kent." "And from a noble client?" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across "Then I can wait in the next room." be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his mystery!" dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would be best to do. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "The murder was done with it." description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" him nearly every evening." remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "Precisely so. But how--" over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "What then?" that I can to serve you." at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave a few minutes he said that it would be all right. him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of since then to throw any light upon what became of him." "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "It was a confession," I ejaculated. have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I appeared upon the scene." "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "Did you become engaged then?" "Pray tell us what has happened to you." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of His name is Francis Prosper." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front careless servant girl?" digesting their breakfasts at home." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than he bowed and left the room without another word. "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. pierced for earrings?" lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's hopeless attempt at recovering them." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late observed. "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "I will, Miss Turner." questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so presented more singular features than that which was associated The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no the matter." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest death." delighted to hear it," he said. was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is guilty one." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that during the last few years, and there are many noble families to however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I such person." matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "Very well, sir. And this stone?" copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a hour." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! was keenly on my guard against him. might have a private word with us. secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back if only as a check to my own memory." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small enough to aid us in our search." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." leave you to your papers for a little." astonishment. from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not corner of the building. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in green of the new foliage. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I