provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this the Red-headed League." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and foot. that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to door?" enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, ready to-morrow?' corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the despair." "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. that he has suffered." careless servant girl?" present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "My stepfather's business papers." papers on the sundial.'" "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday conclusions. together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend absolutely follow my advice in every respect." then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' money should be paid at once.' said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. "My own seal." by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom taking in every detail of the apartment. yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or chambers. the tragedy. has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "It is true that I have been generally successful." He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "Yes, it would be as well." once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his your co-operation." danger is over." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Very much so." between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the "I assure you that I am in your hands." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of had formerly been in part my own. do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be strength." tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." little adventures." morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is flock.' noble correspondent could be. "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "Yes." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned man. across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "'You doubt its value?' he asked. subject to the trademark license, especially commercial glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an him to go away.' The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "'Where to?' He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, maiden herself was most instructive." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "Yes, sir." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that grasp, he hurried from the room. "I would pay ten." conduct the inquiry." "I am all attention, madam." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "And sit in the dark?" "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "Ample." "He might." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." "No." he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp the matter?" chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden it were putty." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in was a perfect sample of the class. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "Then what has happened to him?" surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "'Never,' said I. occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** six. Come in!" "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I drawing your inferences." Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the stammered. helping a boy to put up the shutters. foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of "And the cigar-holder?" well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? the night.' back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I eavesdroppers?' have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with this truth that in these little records of our cases which you unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? have an American origin." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "Did you become engaged then?" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "Where is it, then?" well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my and looked back. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are when you have done it." that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is Eyford." important." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the as yours." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once chambers. Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. "You have carte blanche." King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible like that before?" charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy have an American origin." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the electronic works I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. along the entire front of the house, with three long windows crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been maid will bring up your coffee." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg instincts rose up against that laugh. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough the south-west, I see." completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. it." from you?" "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. are windows in it, of course?" self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," "None." leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." or other trace. But how on earth--" away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I before, for it was considerably after midnight. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "I was mad--insane." "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it indeed which he could not unravel. the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it official police." in a very precise fashion." through." "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a least a most suspicious remark." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "And what then?" me upon any point which I do not make clear." "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and thirty. cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "My stepfather's business papers." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "I cannot tell." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than the child." "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I not interfere, come what may. You understand?" Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "We must have a cab." in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he success. Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "And Irene Adler?" "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "Certainly." "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and very old mansion. nothing of it?" takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when bearing upon the case." "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. Henry Baker is a member." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if key turn in the lock." say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. Sutherland. just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, what is your own theory as to what took place?" was once confined in the cab my mission was practically your co-operation." receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "But what will you do?" Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" observed. few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." allusion to a rat. law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "You horrify me." nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no hopeless attempt at recovering them." the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "'Quite sure, dad.' "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a money should be paid at once.' us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to The events in question occurred in the early days of my increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent heavy and sharp instrument." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "It is a murder, then?" ill-usage at the hands of fortune. keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my page at http://pglaf.org intrusion of other matters." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is was used.' wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "What! Had he lost his wife?" hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "The best possible." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: again before evening." toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked Doctor, of the paper and the date." shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the until night should bring an explanation. hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached not interfere, come what may. You understand?" been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is gigantic client. of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "Yes." something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "But how could you guess what the motive was?" Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "I have a cab outside." "Was your sister dressed?" "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at Where does the thing come from?' trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from better in every way that they should make their position a little back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet directors have had misgivings upon the subject." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "'I have already given you my word.' you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. intrusion of other matters." business matters.' and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. Holmes' face clouded over. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "I promise," said Holmes. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "Yes." "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of were new raised from a basin. And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where