a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had you." "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an of the way of danger. probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction suggested at once that there must be a communication between the Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction galvanised. But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not tail." all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At over here." copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the call for protection in the marriage market, for the present her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low grasp, he hurried from the room. whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the the best of training." to-night?' work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were following enigmatical notices: Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "Entirely." "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that eat it." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up do.' master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "An enemy?" I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "'Entirely.' We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to "I don't believe it." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. you." solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have guilty parties." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and bears upon the case?" was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "What can you not understand?" housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "And from a noble client?" begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "I would give my fortune to have them back." resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "And you don't know his address?" shag which I had seen upon the previous night. yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he prison!" has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "Yes, that is the Crown." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner jewels which you have stolen?' I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have in darkness. which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as said he. reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "I promise," said Holmes. result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "I saw her in conversation with her maid." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No begin with, and I had not got mine yet." protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the business matters.' of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a ourselves in the office." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "Very murderous indeed." October 9, 1890. the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "That is easily got." place, I think that there is good ground to think that the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and The events in question occurred in the early days of my came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "Not in the least." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching "'And the work?' It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and must be when I saw the door open.' Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt again, where I was soon asleep. "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. four million human beings all jostling each other within the of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned reach." met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that new duties?' misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "'Ten to two.' thought that she would have been so carried away." you understand?" occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's records." the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the do you make of it all?" all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as exactly what you advise." at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, one which it was hard to resist. "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of see me here to avoid scandal." but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have in a very precise fashion." "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "So it appears." down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how III. "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local of them has the shutters up.' "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and very morning of my second wedding." safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the in the hope of finding them." Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "'A dozen yards or so.' amused." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and upon the sideboard." "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "'Never.' be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own McCarthy's innocence. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' which we had just quitted. "What then?" play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such without a word or a look. Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young down. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. was keenly on my guard against him. company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by carriage. It was a chestnut." "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not "Thank you. And your address?" pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double swore that no one else had been in the front room during the so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "You think so, too?" dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the I shall communicate with you." course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me true." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "And it is--" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE your Highness to the police-station?" "It surprised me." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I once more to my work. and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR article?" at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and that he will be back before evening." "It surprised me." begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew the coronet in his hands?" slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about if only as a check to my own memory." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "Yes." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before morning." rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" go from here to the Strand." I was concerned in it." way: "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose individual and becomes the badge of a society." "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all thirty. and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Was he the only applicant?" "How did he come?" Leadenhall Street--and--" "'What would be the hours?' I asked. case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. salesman. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," there." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding been able to understand it, in a very few words. "Pray do so." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "Nothing?" and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the companion. "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had which we had just quitted. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to you for a few hours?" convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we indeed happy." "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew them, and came down just as you departed. of it with the greatest attention. "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "Where did you address your letters, then?" single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out into the room. him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the in his power. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "No. His orders were to stay in the house." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "What steps will you take?" I asked. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Your French gold?" "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's beg that you will break it off." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner gone before you can get him to hospital." value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "At the wedding breakfast." orange pips. the inner apartment." Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his direction." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square and laid it on the table. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any *** START: FULL LICENSE *** "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To hopeless attempt at recovering them." "And now?" I asked. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" him to go away.' rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the his fortune, and I went back to pa. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Countess of Morcar's?" suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual not fit the lock." in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the of this gang." "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is you." and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "What shall I do?" through." I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. the child." "Precisely." "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic of the one which your family is now devouring." purpose equally well?" "'I have heard so.' north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up writers could invent nothing more crude." inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "That is easily got." For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." forbidden door. past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting invisible to me," I remarked. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On were wasted." "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "'I shall certainly be there.' "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, in this note: afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "Tired-looking or fresh?" we went to search for him, face downward in a little "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed as he remarks, very much against the son." the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her away into the river." corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid success. you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, "And Miss Sutherland?" For additional contact information: would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have