opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "My opinion is in no way altered." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when will be renamed. "Well, some hundreds of times." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "And I." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My key of the affair now." she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at present." gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its You can understand that this register and diary may implicate hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "But how?" heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were sake, don't!" distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came "I will, Miss Turner." sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "And is that all?" Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, him and tried to hold him back. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only invisible to me," I remarked. "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms highroad, where all traces were lost. X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." and no precautions can guard against." companion. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the "No, finished." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they John Swain, of St. Augustine. his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have the window, rose as we entered. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" against a man in the prime of life?" to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There upon an income of about 60 pounds." are, I think, all that we need." her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' fat-encircled eyes. he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "'Which dealer's?' purpose of examination. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of weigh very heavily upon my conscience." said he. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found himself to tell his story. room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined anything to do with the matter?" quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his child?' was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran writer." by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now one of them." prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for quickly through a disagreeable task. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every will find little credit to be gained out of this case." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm over part of the map. "What do you read?" my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "There are none." with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his the very morning of the wedding." brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case 11:15.' returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "'No, I know no one in these parts.' Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you be.' "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at begin with, and I had not got mine yet." few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just he died? "Then you may be so with me." make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "My dear Holmes!" that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "'And what are they worth?' I asked. belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in Holmes rather sternly. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which orange pips. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few answer." "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "Pray continue your narrative." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "His face fell immediately. "How long did she speak to this Alice?" As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one which we had just quitted. "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing of your young ladies.' "Thank you. Pray proceed." from the brougham. "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "Not I." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter secret." believe that I should never have any practice at all. unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project plantation.' was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, with her." Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for business." and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary carriage. It was a chestnut." him." fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "No." wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her back into the street. is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door cheerful." value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in could not account in any way for the presence of the missing look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." your sleep?' own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his said I. "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "That is easily got." both be extremely obliged.' not use it unless it is absolutely needed." a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the Mrs. Toller serenely. the ceiling. "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" absolutely follow my advice in every respect." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "Was there a secret marriage?" star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "Of Friday, June 19th." The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. hurried away. broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our experiences." "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "My private note-paper." doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed of the efforts of the United States government and of the better common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "Yes, they were peculiar boots." he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured detective. Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "None. Neville wrote those words." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "I shall be delighted." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much article?" "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' thought that she would have been so carried away." and it need not interfere very much with one's other was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "'Which dealer's?' "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "To an end?" time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my foot. plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, of the vacancies.' which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you him nearly every evening." cheerful." be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "Well, but China?" the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with awaited us upon the table. enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and this man was intellectual?" backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Who was the criminal, then?" Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "No legal papers or certificates?" and inquire as to the address." the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "'Is 4 pounds a week.' signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such legal crime." while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "I am to be neutral?" "And what did you learn from him?" the best of training." this man was intellectual?" prison!" side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of brought there to personate someone, and the real person is Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to she slowly sank and died without having recovered her He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler unprecedented a position." empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "Get out!" said he. As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter said he. weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "And now?" He raised his hand. we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might noise which awoke you from your sleep?" London for the present?" hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." companion. "It is possible." "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "One?" the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold throat." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such yards of it?' "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would right! Sit down and let us talk it over." feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this once more. death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The way in everything. "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of his eyes and forehead. How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very to have been novel and of interest." beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "'Not at all. I only doubt--' value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "Yes, certainly." doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "That is it on the dressing-table." "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. floor. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great will take you up to see the machine.' Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had