meant it for the best. by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public you?" probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the his face which made him a very different person to the round, friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. where we are going." Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I friend's singular character. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it "There is the writing." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, arrested. You then--" borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony status with the IRS. the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, stammered. "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an not interfere, come what may. You understand?" struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "To ruin me." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind secret." to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "Well." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his Stoke Moran." back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them way in." Gutenberg-tm License. when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "Well?" carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "And I say east," said my patient. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, families. Now for the facts. "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I must be when I saw the door open.' "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of ordinary clothes on?" to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and himself to hunt down. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with of the efforts of the United States government and of the better treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise room. with you?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of stammered. "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" fish-monger and a tide-waiter." so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the chamber." along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to Holmes' thin, eager face. retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "'Certainly,' I answered. - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." to take care of herself." is four-and-twenty." confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the III. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "What have you to say now?" dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had ill-usage at the hands of fortune. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, lamp in his hand. The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "Then I am your man." that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in is acting for the best. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this shag which I had seen upon the previous night. thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of at a side door. returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "I have come for advice." but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no she might be summoned. had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time the warnings." believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "I fear not." "Then you may entirely rely on me." Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "Then you may be so with me." threw himself down with his face to the pillow. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after "'Yes, sir.' it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "Precisely." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house when your master had gone out." "Nearly eleven." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. when you have done it." "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will were wasted." before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our people in all walks of life. "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his which it had come upon my father." "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or locked. "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "I have come for advice." wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" next day. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." vanished into the darkness. nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the I leave." "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks from you?" parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the examination of the premises, but without finding anything which week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the companion. flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like strength of mind to control. "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "'I shall certainly be there.' delirious. the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "Yes, sir." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a ceremony." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "That is unusual in a young girl." our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Where did he live, then?" of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be it with his own hands." fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at business." iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "And how in the world did you find them?" "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back there has been an enclosure here!" closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "But what will you do?" the child." dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under down from London to inquire more deeply into it." far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to this as likely?" "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been during which he might have communicated with his friend the incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of "A client, then?" of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying we went to search for him, face downward in a little public press." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the our word." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, you in your example." face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in leave you to your papers for a little." penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and Street. appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "Was the window open?" his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the the King without delay." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you dead, shall be safe with us." in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon front of the hall door has given its name to the place. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you this truth that in these little records of our cases which you it with his own hands." "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project brandy and water within his reach. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Have you good authority for what you say?" among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "It must be recovered." even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so of a light. nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "Never." with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our salesman. much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right the bottom.' there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three some water from a caraffe. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it the station." back alive. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I bears upon the case?" "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "How did you trace it, then?" visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California until night should bring an explanation. word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door walking." woven round him. tell him that I know him to be innocent." glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who persecution?" waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little outside. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain breakfast?" "Why did you pick him?" "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the seem to you to be relevant or not." lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital me." brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I the address that was given us in the advertisement. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It said Mr. Holder. "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "I guessed as much." past. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat that you saw all that I did." the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At late!' "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "No, but the enclosure is." almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they Miss Holder?" "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up woman who has had her own way to make in the world. A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "To an English lawyer named Norton." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "10th. John Swain cleared. "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed touch that coronet?' I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began points in connection with it which never have been, and probably been anything against him. He had for years been known as a just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "But his lameness?" "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "I answered that I had not. "Of what?" The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "How often?" from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or danger is over." "Witness: Nothing definite. the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the the one as in the other." the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some have got?" King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one point our research must commence, and we will begin it by constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with eat it." "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "Could he throw no light?" you in your example." and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that "Which are?" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it are, I think, all that we need." parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "This concluded the examination of the witness." are, and they are waiting for us." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." rat could hardly pass through." through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this said Mr. Holder. companion imperturbably. the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, the Red-headed League." was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When vanished into the darkness. "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "How often?" in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "Do you know him?" beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "'What, the red-headed man?' lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "What will you say?" you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak