security.' "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal have not had my rubber." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." page at http://pglaf.org weighed down with some great anxiety. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "It is a murder, then?" she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the rooms." he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "Did you become engaged then?" "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is side. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." think that he is innocent?" "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts impression behind it as though a window had gently closed For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right "To the police?" "How often?" I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Bought." St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the your bag." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where For additional contact information: house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of shoulder; "he's all right." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine to surprise her." took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "No legal papers or certificates?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "And you don't know his address?" Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he whatever might befall. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The late!' I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "Certainly." particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those nothing of it?" it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of License. You must require such a user to return or newspaper selections." back into the street. "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Well, some hundreds of times." "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "'Certainly not.' have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of The summons was a brief and urgent one. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with hard-headed British jury." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy bedroom door." and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I in this note: the warnings." "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know with you?" There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "But you can know nothing of this?" Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police himself in a perplexing position. families. Now for the facts. "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to dates and names. For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from to a more successful conclusion." make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with it." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden likely to be some crony of the landlady's." upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in Pope's Court. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "And Miss Sutherland?" at my remark. the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, perplexity from it to my illustrious client. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "What then?" "Yesterday." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "Has he come with you to-night?" is four-and-twenty." have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "Bought." and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "Well, some hundreds of times." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very over his head with a sweet womanly caress. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to of a light. gone before you can get him to hospital." house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and front of the hall door has given its name to the place. merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did Leadenhall Street--and--" "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "How did you trace it, then?" which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "What have you to say now?" We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best again on its way. lectures into a series of tales." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having Pool. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "Thank you. Pray proceed." of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss answered with a sidelong glance. mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "The best possible." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were your bag." the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. your bag." whether it answered to the description of any of their once more. crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. this remarkable episode. essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards most interesting one." to you." He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his off." to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and case before our client came into the room." enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted The telegram which we eventually received came late one night aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same should be so warm over such a trifle." quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely redistribution. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable putting in the horse. a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, house for five minutes.' "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade girl said." agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "I am armed." "And I say east," said my patient. smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for colour had been driven from his face. the matter." and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I following enigmatical notices: "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single it were putty." concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." as noiselessly as she had come. affection." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "I think it very unlikely." stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "Precisely." "What!" he roared. tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey straightened it out again. deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "He said too much." charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the foot. "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was returned to France?" The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: both be extremely obliged.' the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of been shamefully used." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "You have it, sir, just as it happened." finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. despair." Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." bachelor.' of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours neither fascinating nor artistic." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against "Which are?" return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Well, but China?" sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." been shamefully used." "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "'Then let me do so?' "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather could not have written that. It is the German who is so "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "You have compromised yourself seriously." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "If so, much may have happened between." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to guilty one." vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "That is possible." What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning grasp, he hurried from the room. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he you want, then?' weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" to a more successful conclusion." that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up "Yes." "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her Holmes' thin, eager face. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have have got?" Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a you in your example." prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying never came back." had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "Then you may be so with me." the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck be there in time for your coming." lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I husband's writing, madam." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been whether it answered to the description of any of their the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." "So I have heard." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. had formerly been in part my own. shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, over part of the map. "What do you read?" We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "'Yes, sir.' would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little the matter?" nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed but preventing her from injuring another. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "Yes." misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as not as remarkable as your advertisement." liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves approach us with offers to donate. stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." out of this horrible affair." same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I delighted to hear it," he said. they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my populous neighbourhood." bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "On the contrary, this is the right side." on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked a very grave face. the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "No, I think that I'll take it." learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "And your father? Did you tell him?" say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has 1.E.9. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "'There is a drive, then?' man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just investigation." sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed sake, don't!" "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his have an American origin." "Perhaps I have."