that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual "No, I think that I'll take it." your sleep?' was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "Then I shall certainly come." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a views." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "I see no marks." the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing you do it in twenty minutes!' front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" go from here to the Strand." St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before sound at heart." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets voice. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "How did he come?" we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon During two years I have had three consultations and one small which was all perfectly true. screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and upon an income of about 60 pounds." compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in think that he is innocent?" mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." character. I have it here in my museum." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful that he will be back before evening." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her along the entire front of the house, with three long windows I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his you for a few hours?" murdered man." that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a as he folded up the epistle. The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. Serpentine Avenue. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "No, I am descending." into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for so far?" "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some if she died from some sudden fright." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "Yes." helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. mystery may be cleared along those lines." during that time.' individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to strode off upon his way. foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "Very. But will he see it?" charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "The landlord of the Alpha." Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a to a more successful conclusion." which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' been." "She showed me, as I told you she would." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being learned something! Where are the gems?" side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very suggested at once that there must be a communication between the experiences." the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "I was mad--insane." fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." note?" been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "Awake, Watson?" he asked. He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." the tragedy. "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to matter." up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything "An accident, I presume?" a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had photograph a cabinet?" to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without the so-precious time, but come!' railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, in darkness. like that before?" saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "And now?" I asked. happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, national property. I was determined that the law should have its "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with appeal." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "Certainly." round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "The Cedars?" act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness For additional contact information: "And how have you succeeded?" difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "But what is it you wish?" prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it *** START: FULL LICENSE *** deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the "Then you may be so with me." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend one of the states of the Union." Where does the thing come from?' father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the least a fellow-countryman. lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "How do you know, then?" "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "I am armed." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "Won't it ring?" twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take light and attacked it." breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. appointment with me for six o'clock?" As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is were unconscious?" unkempt, staring out at me. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." ourselves in the office." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Seven!" I answered. have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the to me. there has been an enclosure here!" savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to Holmes' room. "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott least a most suspicious remark." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "A confidential servant?" Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late detective. body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" following enigmatical notices: arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a may never be exposed to such a temptation." accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down come either from the window or the door. My attention was foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De vague figure huddled up in the darkness. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been have got?" stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. and your relations to her." "You don't mind breaking the law?" remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. voice. "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not rose-bushes. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "I have my revolver," said I. country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a fait accompli?" lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is her also." Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, ventilator." "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very may never be exposed to such a temptation." have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal but preventing her from injuring another. as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers During two years I have had three consultations and one small question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "How can you tell that?" peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the cigars in the box." "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded call it cruel." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt be.' Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that crime." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up attention." "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. copied or distributed: several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to tell him that I know him to be innocent." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. there were so many in the whole country as were brought together peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, said Mr. Holder. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "Then I am your man." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is your own bird, so if you wish--" across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "Of what day?" was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "I came to find a friend." written. month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Yes." simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "And your father? Did you tell him?" dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked of receipt of the work. more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has awaited us upon the table. methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "Of Friday, June 19th." thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of present." It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly said I. found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "But he might be a bachelor." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a all-comprehensive glances. "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and drawing your inferences." in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow grasp, he hurried from the room. He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as crime. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining in the hope of finding them." once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his furiously. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "That is possible." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his evidence," I remarked. values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as DAMAGE. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "A greater distance to travel." house for five minutes.' character. "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' business." Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his details should find their way into the papers. Inspector Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and "Never." and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went six. Come in!" "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "No?" the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low our word." step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "Well, some hundreds of times." Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. papers on the sundial.'" "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his other, as fresh and trim as possible. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" mysterious business." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. followed. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm Countess of Morcar's?" "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. money should be paid at once.' sneer upon his pale face. request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of any little problem which you may submit to me." narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy the night.' "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "It's nothing of the kind." Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I six. Come in!" go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money,