"On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "None." chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself details." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "I beg pardon." upon the shelf for the interim." "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "'It is locked up,' I answered. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "You have compromised yourself seriously." plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us goes." thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see remarked. gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you colonel looking down at me. "'Why that?' I asks. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "My dear Holmes!" "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "'Tell me all about it,' said I. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "Pray be precise as to details," said he. drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "No." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! redistribution. that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Pray continue your narrative." upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "I cannot think." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand rooms." way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you to tell." "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers conceal it?" "Seven!" I answered. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with tell him that I know him to be innocent." again." "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's London for the present?" them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "Yes." of the vacancies.' opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his the bed, and you in that chair." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his "And on what day did he meet his death?" a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There round with crates and massive boxes. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was business came to an end." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your "I am armed." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "That's no good." "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "I was certainly surprised to find you there." ashen face. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, which we had just quitted. scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "My dear Holmes!" of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to soul! here is her carriage at the door." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the III. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your American. Then who could this American be, and why should he if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was which our visitor detailed to us. delirious. him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been three fields round his house, and there he would take his comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two interest. They are important, you understand, without being stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for someone who had been in Australia." money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "In which, sir?" casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "You know me, then?" stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. breakfast." "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." until night should bring an explanation. "Where, then, is my wife?" Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "Because he was handy and would come cheap." "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' or other trace. But how on earth--" office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then weapon." "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "You have but to name it." "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And some mystery and the punishment of some crime." to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to neither fascinating nor artistic." there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. away in different directions, and I went off to make my own interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." carried out of court." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man Mary, has deserted me." up this clue while it is still hot." wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "That is not always so easy." "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes III. deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a such person." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting about. with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may know all about it," he snarled. crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Where, then, is my wife?" set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that than to us. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "I know where it is." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He deduce something from that?" "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "My private note-paper." all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." vault. but preventing her from injuring another. believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I his face. I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "Then how many are there?" I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce tell him that I know him to be innocent." of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the stepfather?" first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Look there!" said he. "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A annoyance, but no jest. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always enter into my head. "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had British peeress.'" say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper not interfere, come what may. You understand?" before, for it was considerably after midnight. if only as a check to my own memory." "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir but preventing her from injuring another. nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, which was all perfectly true. cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "I am about to be married." His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "Nothing." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased during that time.' "Indeed! Whose, then?" vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' God! What an exposure! What can I do?" Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "No, my brougham is waiting." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you careless servant girl?" "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "I beg pardon." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other strange features which were associated with the two crimes which said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." salesman. cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "You horrify me!" may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "What can it mean?" I gasped. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "In answer to an advertisement." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man together. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It my room." the side-table." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my electronic works "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "'Yes, sir.' "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a danger is over." "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "'Certainly not.' quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "Yes, it would be as well." their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "But you would not advise me to refuse?" coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." the matter." and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in whatever might befall. neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "It's nothing of the kind." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. entirely lost his self-respect." in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in dramatic, in fact." floor. "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in night.' said he. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "You are certainly joking, Holmes." or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not for securing the situation." after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to have established a very serious case against the son of the retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. business in the City. She little knew what. "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "I will do it." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent strength of mind to control. some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his and files of the old papers, following the future career of every train.' case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a the so-precious time, but come!' an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her make me his representative both with the servants and with the centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "Precisely." "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version said he. hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had few hundred pounds.' interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of congratulate you again." "And the cigar-holder?" "Never." in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish the King without delay." copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to pictures, libraries, or plate. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this "Oh, yes, easily." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune everything which you would wish to know." "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. felt?" much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to maiden herself was most instructive." dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes thought that she would have been so carried away." The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" deduce something from that?" in the dead of the night?' of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing hour." room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "My own seal." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who it." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was gone. asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. said Mr. Holder. the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "She showed me, as I told you she would." was the fact that his father should, according to his account, state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some