pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, long narrative. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "It surprised me." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing gentleman's clothes. upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about night.' said he. for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "My last client of the sort was a king." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, words came to my lips. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. o'clock is it?" the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "Oh, fresh and glossy." to me. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "And why in hopes?" any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "Very. But will he see it?" "I have seen the police." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and in the dead of the night?' whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than chemical work which was so dear to him. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "'About the same.' workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "It came here." so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, I shall continue with my miserable story. the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "Come in!" said he. "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a been able to understand it, in a very few words. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This to-night's adventure." Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we carpenter." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. disturbance in my wife." a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the "But how?" owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen that, and I came down." rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "She told me to ask you." "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among them present such singular features as the strange train of his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether the King without delay." such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a through." alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I mystery." surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my shag which I had seen upon the previous night. the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very more solid." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in The summons was a brief and urgent one. Holmes' thin, eager face. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the yet." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to to go into your room and bar your shutters?" hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "Your French gold?" "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. miles off. "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said forbidden door. "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already Mary, has deserted me." giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of in the dead of the night?' may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the 'I should be able to look after that for you.' legal crime." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may "How did he come?" a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. washing it down with a long draught of water. "The best possible." not, dad?" she asked. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience bell. Holmes whistled. "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." may never be exposed to such a temptation." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "To an end?" hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With "And what did you learn from him?" may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be system of imprisonment?" some city in a dream. companion quietly. "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but wanted for ourselves." instituted." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity there has been an enclosure here!" "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout have one." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very had picked up in the wood. at a side door. yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while morning." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." union?" Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. this man was intellectual?" humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "What of the rat, then?" son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable is now desirous of getting those letters back." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. instincts rose up against that laugh. ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the of campaign. with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" "Perhaps I have." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a forebodings. schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any such attractions and accomplishments?' "My Mary? Impossible!" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. there!' "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his if only as a check to my own memory." St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any had formerly been in part my own. the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "A thing like a cleaver," said he. manager. had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a humiliation." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next public press." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley which was all perfectly true. tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that some terrible trap for her." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Precisely so. But how--" is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "It is possible." successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's "It is no ordinary one." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "I came to find a friend." never to learn it at all." "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! train.' assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to or other trace. But how on earth--" rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life you in yours." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of detained." the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away writers could invent nothing more crude." there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a indiscretion." undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "'What are you doing there?' he asked. brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Certainly." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "This photograph!" all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences the stable lane now." snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "Why, it's a dummy," said he. sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom to have that photograph." observed. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such himself to tell his story. saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal hurried by. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, way: skylight. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "That is also quite modern," said the lady. Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, night.' said he. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right said he, "my real name is James Ryder." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property father's young wife. this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, business came to an end." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see of note-paper. It read in this fashion: bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." come either from the window or the door. My attention was "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son bird I ate is country bred." "'There is a drive, then?' Does that suggest anything?" present." "You have compromised yourself seriously." perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, official police." unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year of." conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his interests were the same as his." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the is," said he presently: Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. placed his cuttings. "But we can't all be." comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "It goes to the housekeeper's room." He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "Dark enough and sinister enough." laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, ready to-morrow?' adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "10th. John Swain cleared. question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would locked." thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what formed some opinion?" as he folded up the epistle. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She and shall probably return to London by the evening train." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't of his shoulders. cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he narrative." it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of the inquest, and which are worth considering." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a you found me to-night--and running through the front room she pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "BALLARAT." 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "That is possible." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for Foundation With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no the date of his supposed suicide." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "One horse?" interjected Holmes. of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was