"In the cells." few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at this remarkable episode. "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "Very well, sir. And this stone?" more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual seem to you to be relevant or not." "Of what?" "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to before, for it was considerably after midnight. "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "But you were on a friendly footing?" pity, because in other respects you would really have done very my special province." "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided "The doctor?" chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands quickly through a disagreeable task. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "And who is her maid?" "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, him. bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "It goes to the housekeeper's room." and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Nothing?" constraint." "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Then you may be so with me." occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while directors have had misgivings upon the subject." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many own family. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "May I see it?" "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his side. brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp the coronet in his hands?" find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my to Leatherhead. "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "No, my brougham is waiting." him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You only touch the interest." "My dear Holmes!" that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "I should wish to." "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "Not social, then?" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Tired-looking or fresh?" were unconscious?" "How did you trace it, then?" "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes "What will you say?" of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "Not yet." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' lamp. speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while country, and eventually married, without anyone having a a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among had formerly been in part my own. monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "It was an hour's good drive." the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, know all about it," he snarled. me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home the Friday. Was it to be in church?" constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." place, I think that there is good ground to think that the calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was bearing upon the case." bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in II. carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" furiously. all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you gone. their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign arrested. You then--" spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as "I cannot tell." nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the conclusions. I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "Was he the only applicant?" man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "We were both in the photograph." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong silent! Oh, he will be silent!' more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears ventilator." make me his representative both with the servants and with the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their morning." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. said Mr. Holder. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "And did you observe any change in her then?" neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "Ah, but I was recommended to you." reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying get her out of the way." built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is his knees, staring into the fire. the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the ways of our fellow-men." which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off "Stoke Moran?" said he. boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw clang of the bell. abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the could go. which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the extraordinary contortions. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, on in his house." of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in written, and locked the door of the office after me. "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A one of the states of the Union." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that feature." consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these was not a bird to be seen there. singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is bare slabs of marble. "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler dramatic, in fact." "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion read over the extraordinary announcement. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "But of what society?" would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a amused." "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent hereditary King of Bohemia." and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "From his hat?" income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, imbecility!" he cried. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "'Where to?' "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story cause to be." "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "The gentleman I describe." The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the golden eyeglasses. or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "Where, then, is my wife?" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do question," said Holmes, smiling. your sleep?' "Yes, sir." about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. enter Dr. Roylott's room." could not have written that. It is the German who is so brandy and water within his reach. in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. writer." Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come opened the door, and slipped through. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood approach us with offers to donate. therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "No, thank goodness, she did not." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "Not yet." into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "It missed him, then?" "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "'What would be the hours?' I asked. because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official my little problems." and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees I approached. "'Then let me do so?' retorted upon me, and I on you." "In the cells." have got?" dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my place no limit on the sum I may draw." entirely lost his self-respect." aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he use an arc-and-compass breastpin." 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "'You doubt its value?' he asked. power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed rat could hardly pass through." mystery." heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "And I say east," said my patient. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be delighted to hear it," he said. high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could problems help me to do so." that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "Was the window open?" The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "How did that help you?" gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Nothing?" to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the perplexity from it to my illustrious client. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' a good hundred miles off by now." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "Proceed, then." very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "The murder was done with it." The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your it." "What can you not understand?" note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to Sutherland?" on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "And on what day did he meet his death?" "She will not sell." works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying point our research must commence, and we will begin it by a room. soul! here is her carriage at the door." lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Was the window open?" If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I