"No sign of it?" "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I and have this put in the evening papers." dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very From what you have told me I think that it is possible that settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch John Swain, of St. Augustine. nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many to-night." post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With touch that coronet?' horse could go." hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "Very well, sir. And this stone?" c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her "'What, the red-headed man?' Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "Nothing?" slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock are, and they are waiting for us." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter been shamefully used." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There I approached. fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly returning from some small jollification and was making his way arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange swore that no one else had been in the front room during the whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "A client, then?" "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' Foundation "That is unusual in a young girl." prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. the night.' to affect your life." explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. despaired of." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of could gather together that I was able to avert another public man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the long narrative. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded once more. going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "I was mad--insane." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into him. "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I in my life." in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have Eyford." "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet your most interesting statement." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Nothing." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and pity, because in other respects you would really have done very hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he late." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it 1.F. "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet passage and a tap at the door. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was nonsense.' interests were the same as his." promised to bring home. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. have been better. It is all right." my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "You know me, then?" long narrative. "Dirty?" allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "Yes, it would be as well." in his power. "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "Murdered?" In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. with frightened eyes at his accuser. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the dates and names. Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "But I have heard all that you have heard." "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are only touch the interest." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" really the only notable feature about the thing." "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is all-comprehensive glances. that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up of the way of danger. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have call you and give you the chance." "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "But she could not love him." danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for fishes. fact, we may call it conclusive." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I morning." "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses only touch the interest." "I guessed as much." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "What! Had he lost his wife?" card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I Miss Holder?" strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the Friday. Was it to be in church?" Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "But what harm can there be in that?" as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It rose-bushes. "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. spare." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you lumber-room." guilty parties." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." "No. What a strange idea!" himself. mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge door?" Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much details." Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "Your presence might be invaluable." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have burst out into a roar of laughter. and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, in this note: lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during had no one to advise her at such a crisis." forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "It surprised me." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I it with his own hands." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. "It missed him, then?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent emerged. before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "And your mother is alive?" admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a business." "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and he bowed and left the room without another word. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the business came to an end." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are "I beg pardon." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley good for you to do.' humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "Yes, at the mines." room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "Is he quiet?" the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at there were one or two details which were new to me. But the was a loud and authoritative tap. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in keep the flames under. grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned present." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is closely." agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had the inner apartment." It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "You know me, then?" Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand it." clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "The best possible." "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "'What do you call purely nominal?' "Yes, it was twisted." "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." mysterious business." consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when strength in the others." Lee, in the county of Kent." works. shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if other means.' in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "To an English lawyer named Norton." speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no shaken than I had ever seen him. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "You'll never persuade me to believe that." three of the beryls in it, was missing. upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. States. *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my your room." "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day thin legs towards the fire. "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the DAMAGE. mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire four million human beings all jostling each other within the perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and outside." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have wedding?" "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," locked. corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against light and attacked it." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience business." secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have questionable one." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear stammered. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. one of them." "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you ways of our fellow-men." "'Oh, no.' across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I cost them two and thirty pounds." entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "Holmes, the busybody!" "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the asked with his eyes open. "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Always." is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a his eyes and forehead. "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." I shall communicate with you." but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I something of him before." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "But you have hopes?" be. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no I shall communicate with you." best detective that ever lived. "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly to that open window." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that the dangers which encompass me." do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large the inner apartment." whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish Chief Executive and Director A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." enter into my head. treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "But how will you look?" though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "In heaven's name, what for?" examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was morning." "Precisely." wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about believe that I should never have any practice at all. premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few the coroner come to?" villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. floor.