the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door crowd. "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his October 9, 1890. He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the coronet at all injured?" for its centre. heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, discontent upon his features. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud deduce something from that?" what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came once more for Briony Lodge. was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter one of the states of the Union." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest him to go away.' and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a Street. Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a on in his house." machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer you?' passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales the station." smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country III. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. fat-encircled eyes. place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "'Stolen!' he cried. door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm him to go away.' pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found impression behind it as though a window had gently closed "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy your troubles." started for the Temple to see my husband. description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the front of the hall door has given its name to the place. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, the address that was given us in the advertisement. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "It was an hour's good drive." to arrive at through this?" left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from "'There is a drive, then?' was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and forebodings. when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "'Never,' said I. not as remarkable as your advertisement." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined and I shall be with you presently." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the is acting for the best. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "About a month then." when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need when you have done it." a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing is now desirous of getting those letters back." interested in these little problems, and since you are good "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "Why? What do you mean?" sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, again before evening." "Awake, Watson?" he asked. long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which writer." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "I cannot say that I have." "At what time?" "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but unkempt, staring out at me. several quiet little villages up there." would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was acquaintance?" beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "But he might be a bachelor." the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to such attractions and accomplishments?' "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "The knees of his trousers." fat-encircled eyes. little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "Yes, from Horsham." Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the your billet.' yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. me what he had done with the three missing stones. weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than been deceived." with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Then I shall certainly come." extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler floor. "Yes, only one." the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "No, I had a dozen." himself. "Have you it here?" "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my daring than any effort of the imagination." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into late!' But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "If I can be of use." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a of it with the greatest attention. may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be public press." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this was a loud and authoritative tap. "So I have heard." "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found pierced for earrings?" prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard the station." that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Deserted you?" It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "That also I could fathom." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "I am sure." at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with door?" that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a in his hands." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "She told me to ask you." "It is solved." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "Yes, the wine-cellar." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "How did that help you?" said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "How on earth--" these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, 'please.'" "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly families. Now for the facts. "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to that he has suffered." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "At half-wages, in fact." furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor Lestrade of Scotland Yard." Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit will take you up to see the machine.' But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "Absolutely none." wall." "My own seal." staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had she slowly sank and died without having recovered her there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "No. What a strange idea!" my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "It certainly sounds feasible." what do you think they found in the pockets?" before, for it was considerably after midnight. and glanced through. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and and inquire as to the address." "You heard nothing yourself last night?" facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "He is dead," cried several voices. facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his "Well, it is a possible supposition." six. Come in!" "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a you understand?" company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an you." any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "Entirely." "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, "But what harm can there be in that?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally DAMAGE. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "And it is--" sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in three of the beryls in it, was missing. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." quite distinctive." the house with me." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and During two years I have had three consultations and one small on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm that I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He just called myself is not exactly my own." "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "Of what day?" "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "Yes, at the mines." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat DISSOLVED. the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but a suggestive one." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. true." money should be paid at once.' central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our kindly on the shoulder. "Yes." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "But you can know nothing of this?" mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was papers." One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." upon the sideboard." no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who him to be an active member of the medical profession." to-morrow." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel "I saw her in conversation with her maid." heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the "But you were on a friendly footing?" for and were ordered to this address. morning." least a most suspicious remark." as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the on re-entering her father's house?" abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we once more for Briony Lodge. Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, became a certainty. brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the not within a twentieth part of the market price." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended into the room. trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." question," said Holmes, smiling. summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "I cannot tell." he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me question," said Holmes, smiling. a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed "That is unusual in a young girl." "Where did he live, then?" hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "Pray tell us what has happened to you." clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers call it cruel." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "But she will refuse." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great opportunities to fix the problem. those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. him and tried to hold him back. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and sake, don't!" over with notes and figures. drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey second." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "On Monday." that he has suffered." Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into late." key turn in the lock." 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. are windows in it, of course?" "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with redistribution. bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" other means.' Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am all-comprehensive glances. creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "I should wish to." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted I was concerned in it." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, himself to tell his story.