the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "None." said Mr. Holder. "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, that before taking the final step I should like to submit the in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out obstinate." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting both be extremely obliged.' no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those in his hands." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this "Just look it up, then." to have been novel and of interest." desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should trifles." It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. look upon these things in a different way." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "Very. But will he see it?" as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I empty. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "Come in!" said he. My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp of campaign. if only as a check to my own memory." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. the Red-headed League." "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post and it need not interfere very much with one's other Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "'How far from the body?' delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Very truly yours, the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "Then I can wait in the next room." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still over with notes and figures. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "And you can do nothing until then?" "The Cedars?" "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "You have carte blanche." Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with other, as fresh and trim as possible. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three You can understand that this register and diary may implicate little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "Well?" train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "Yes." out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "But you were on a friendly footing?" made his money." and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that fattened it expressly for you.' down in his armchair and closing his eyes. evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the then?" squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat hand, madam?" bedroom door." himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old occurred." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; comes from the middle window." fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, down. than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was particular state visit http://pglaf.org "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case himself to hunt down. Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we during which he might have communicated with his friend the drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left prepare for the new role I have to play." "'I have already given you my word.' appointment with me for six o'clock?" brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., look upon these things in a different way." "You think so, too?" returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve you." no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "Here?" without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face just ask you whether you had heard it.' promised to bring home. Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means get the tickets." stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, a few minutes he said that it would be all right. new acquaintance to Baker Street. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a distinguish the words: listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave thirty. "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his tell him that I know him to be innocent." thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned results." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "No sign of it?" photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "Was he the only applicant?" ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a in the port of London." Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "And you thought he was pulled back?" which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "We must sit without light. He would see it through the deduce something from that?" and I shall be with you presently." again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." might have a private word with us. "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally an introduction to him?" "What! Had he lost his wife?" square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, and I shall be with you presently." instituted." "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter the warnings." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture drove away. side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to matter." firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here details." Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "But how did you gain them?" it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his and effective." shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar woman." almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss seem to you to be relevant or not." three fields round his house, and there he would take his from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "You horrify me." repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a been lifted and conveyed somewhere." friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "But you were on a friendly footing?" Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "It is possible." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs "Ample." Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "It surprised me." that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons prove to be little relation between the different incidents of during which he might have communicated with his friend the case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a very morning of my second wedding." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "You know me, then?" "My last client of the sort was a king." these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging all-comprehensive glances. elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were success. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line bachelor.' yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I him to be an active member of the medical profession." '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." "How on earth--" upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, may never be exposed to such a temptation." "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, sofa. This way, please!" he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "Well?" has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. "You horrify me." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "Where, indeed?" values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. occupations.' than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly have an American origin." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged opened the door, and slipped through. India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into he bowed and left the room without another word. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her four million human beings all jostling each other within the "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of "ARAT," I read. go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "At the wedding breakfast." "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me figure." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Very murderous indeed." not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "But what harm can there be in that?" slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a them?" he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the learned something! Where are the gems?" India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay of Fenchurch Street." man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, "'Never.' yourselves in at night?" rat could hardly pass through." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "I cannot say that I have." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "You have carte blanche." shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "Yes." we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe "Awake, Watson?" he asked. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "So I have heard." cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, to-night?" I asked. absorbing." clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel learned something! Where are the gems?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in writing, and yet I know it well." gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in for securing the situation." "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you behind me. opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with our word." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his over part of the map. "What do you read?" started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "And I to find an enemy." life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "Yes, sir." story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips mystery may be cleared along those lines." afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was enter into my head. Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, society." river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the had formerly been in part my own. sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" thin legs towards the fire. shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates details." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I carpenter." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and reach." "The King of Scandinavia." authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a affair. low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the were unconscious?" was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "Holmes, the busybody!" turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my eat it." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in just called myself is not exactly my own." your equipment. carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one careless servant girl?" "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner gone. His name is Francis Prosper." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations invisible to me," I remarked. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with once more. my little problems." near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the