seven miles from Eyford Station.' above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an whatever might befall. "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, have had none more fantastic than this." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out very peculiar words of the dying woman?" open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate papers must be those that are destroyed.' lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you to that open window." him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly Surrey." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a his face which made him a very different person to the round, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a http://www.gutenberg.net "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem father's young wife. "My private note-paper." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "Proceed, then." "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" that?' certainly do as you advise." forehead. forebodings. tail." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under taking in every detail of the apartment. "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat respectable self." The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "That sounds a little paradoxical." after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "That is unusual in a young girl." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is letters?" terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or be. to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning of the way of danger. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "And you can do nothing until then?" "'What then?' I asked. donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "We have tried and failed." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." that I am arrested." whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector the station." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "How did you deduce the select?" companion imperturbably. Have you good authority for what you say?" sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "The knees of his trousers." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I should be immensely obliged to you." instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, the King without delay." forecastle of an emigrant ship. cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both direction." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded might have a private word with us. into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do his knees, staring into the fire. seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or his face which made him a very different person to the round, bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ gentleman's clothes. there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one for securing the situation." see me here to avoid scandal." speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was goes." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "No, finished." "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, "It is possible." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior brandy and water within his reach. hurried by. "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "How do you know, then?" "Here?" until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a Leave Paddington by the 11:15." he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the you?" told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "And that is--" hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "Yes." "Of what?" American. Then who could this American be, and why should he but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "Yes, he did." There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "It certainly sounds feasible." very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called all that?" and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in writers could invent nothing more crude." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. photograph?" straighten it?" which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my putting in the horse. "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. returned to France?" into the bag, and made for the door. though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now within hail.' itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that back into the street. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "What then?" American. Then who could this American be, and why should he simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine man. "And it is--" Mrs. Toller serenely. not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. and effective." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss photograph a cabinet?" in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out "Perhaps I have." cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "What have you to say now?" follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "No, thank goodness, she did not." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An come either from the window or the door. My attention was character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and Mary, has deserted me." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was upon the sideboard." "Eh? What was that?" great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in October 9, 1890. than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "How many? I don't know." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" as yours." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she will take you up to see the machine.' Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." cup of tea. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." during the last few years, and there are many noble families to 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have business." "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in American. Then who could this American be, and why should he her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "The Cedars?" something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each I held the little printed slip to the light. Doctor, of the paper and the date." business came to an end." retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to him, that man would not have given me such complete information "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your nights." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "Won't it ring?" the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can to have been novel and of interest." "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was chair. therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his matter over." thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, to a light-house. about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "Never." the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "I am sure." there in twenty minutes." "In which, sir?" "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or speckled band?" doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "You saw the ventilator, too?" nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "And I to find an enemy." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "But how?" Sutherland. "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for "'It is locked up,' I answered. and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had arms and began to sob in a high treble key. chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "Thank you. Pray proceed." so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE locked." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or than was visible to me." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be completely overtopped every other consideration that we both you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "To an English lawyer named Norton." was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were "And when will you call?" problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "It is a murder, then?" that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Where does the thing come from?' Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window mystery." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "The Cedars?" believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, lids now and glanced across at his visitor. accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "I cannot as yet see any connection." neither fascinating nor artistic." he died? treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Texas, I think." what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with British peeress.'" "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "You'll never persuade me to believe that." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "Ah, but I was recommended to you." offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, must be when I saw the door open.' "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. strength of mind to control. seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. is now desirous of getting those letters back." "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped "The Coroner: What do you mean? grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug interests were the same as his." gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he Henry Baker is a member." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their the stable lane now." Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been money should be paid at once.' the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' most important business. It is probable that he will be away all to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried flock.' away to you." thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so never to learn it at all." really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, habit of advancing money.' Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take 1.F. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such was shining brightly. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "He is still with you, I presume?" child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much room. six. Come in!" description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that that I may have something better before very many minutes are errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "And now?" He raised his hand. conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same willing to fill a vacancy in the League.'