"My dear Holmes!" noise which awoke you from your sleep?" a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" three fields round his house, and there he would take his a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached For additional contact information: years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the sufficient punishment." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "They are typewritten," I remarked. see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a of your young ladies.' 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into as the one I chose?' "What, then, did Peterson do?" "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless it." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, prepare for the new role I have to play." gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger of receipt of the work. The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard always that they were such commands as a lady might with "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "When did she vanish, then?" instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "None." "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, the morning and make my own way in the world.' "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the Leave Paddington by the 11:15." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike hard-headed British jury." shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram new acquaintance to Baker Street. closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and tell him that I know him to be innocent." January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "Your sister is dead, then?" and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "But who is he?" sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "No, distinctly professional." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "An accident, I presume?" "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "'You cannot say what it was?' dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "No more words. Get out!" "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That read it out to me." events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but colonel looking down at me. coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we it." "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for call for protection in the marriage market, for the present in the port of London." Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it prisoner's face. smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "Yes." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the and inquire as to the address." column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" Chief Executive and Director "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, would then never go into court at all." difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a bearing upon the case." round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce "Witness: Nothing definite. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the events, Mr. Windibank!" Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition without a word or a look. all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "'Is purely nominal.' crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so *** START: FULL LICENSE *** was not a bird to be seen there. doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a October 9, 1890. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible results." little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "I think that it is very probable." feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and fashion which was peculiar to him. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon you want, then?' certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a up this clue while it is still hot." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven "How are you getting on?" black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated "Yes, sir." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, maid will bring up your coffee." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so sound at heart." it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "It certainly sounds feasible." nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one upon the shelf for the interim." detective. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the newspaper selections." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with DISSOLVED. however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very digesting their breakfasts at home." Sholtos." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of do." showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "'Oh, no.' hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "'What would be the hours?' I asked. of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely yards of it?' true." "Well." "And you thought he was pulled back?" "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he address. a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. is now desirous of getting those letters back." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Street. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up written, and locked the door of the office after me. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open again before evening." "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, once more for Briony Lodge. object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past "Perfectly so." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." him to be an active member of the medical profession." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up giving me time to thank him. thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "Here?" "Yes, I have one waiting." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of and the church but not where the lady lived." Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put threw himself down with his face to the pillow. then?" clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "'I have already given you my word.' said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "That you are never beaten." he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other hair?' "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I call you and give you the chance." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't Sutherland?" "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "She will not sell." and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when geese which you supplied to the Alpha." his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to Again Holmes raved in the air. that, and I came down." the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two posted to-day." "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "Then I do not see the point." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "Then the page we have seen--" felt?" cup of tea. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "But I have heard all that you have heard." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough that I am arrested." "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or frequently gained my first real insight into the character of my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell the nursery. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Dr. Becher's." reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy you for a few hours?" to tell." the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of was a perfect sample of the class. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful strong reason behind." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the my special province." the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been round with crates and massive boxes. empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of already referred to. said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, floor. akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down that you wished to speak to me?' Sutherland. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and colonel looking down at me. examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came allusion to a rat. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your against a man in the prime of life?" "Was he the only applicant?" kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." written, and locked the door of the office after me. "I am all attention, madam." Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his young Openshaw's." lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. completely overtopped every other consideration that we both an introduction to him?" "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "'Ample.' thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." there." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white and glanced through. only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been tell them apart.' "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, not as remarkable as your advertisement." absolutely follow my advice in every respect."