"'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and place of silver." lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into "I have my revolver," said I. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of showing my impatience. "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He the King without delay." Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to might help us?" America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "To ruin me." bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, and shall probably return to London by the evening train." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk in a friendly supper." "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "You know me, then?" heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "And that is--" "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with lamp. wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and with frightened eyes at his accuser. was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to look upon these things in a different way." "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who fire. You quite follow me?" present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "Nor running a chance of arrest?" behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and way: "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly window when the police appeared." "Was he the only applicant?" his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "Will you bet, then?" maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of threw himself down with his face to the pillow. Project Gutenberg-tm works. call you and give you the chance." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of indiscretion." stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "'Oh, no.' strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, situation." exactly what you advise." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "And did you observe any change in her then?" was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting lectures into a series of tales." object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "And what did you learn from him?" formed some opinion?" flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, directly by questioning you." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my happened." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a and inquire as to the address." his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce down. is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee points in connection with it which never have been, and probably myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "He is still with you, I presume?" "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger fattened it expressly for you.' my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project investigation." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the arrangements." change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "Perhaps we may make them less so." the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "And how did he make his money?" surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "Yes, at the mines." the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "But you were on a friendly footing?" some place of shelter and let the county police know what has Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself with you alone." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little questionable one." with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these "Perfectly so." down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the crowd. "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. go from here to the Strand." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "Come in!" said he. the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the to take care of herself." second window is the one that I jumped from." his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' Pool. to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said feature." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you neither fascinating nor artistic." in darkness. man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and then?" not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "I am to be neutral?" look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from absolutely follow my advice in every respect." of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good matters immensely." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "'It is locked up,' I answered. bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and once more for Briony Lodge. these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his had no one to advise her at such a crisis." heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to soul! here is her carriage at the door." in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had in him." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "Pray do so." for its centre. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that matter over." was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you other, as fresh and trim as possible. "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his me, and I could not think that his explanation of the might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a dear old homesteads?" possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon long narrative. "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are which it had come upon my father." for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. hardly wander." is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "We were both in the photograph." so.' "Then I am your man." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "How many? I don't know." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "And who is her maid?" the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the Dr. Gregory B. Newby to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, the Assizes." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can point our research must commence, and we will begin it by Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. golden eyeglasses. "And Miss Sutherland?" practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an second." someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the and the whole place is in a blaze." certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness have an American origin." from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. yourselves in at night?" "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. unprofitable." home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "Was there a secret marriage?" skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently locked. still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile at home. confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and the coronet at all injured?" "Precisely so. But how--" "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to foresight and the moral retrogression?" and it need not interfere very much with one's other unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If crackling voice. lamp in his hand. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one to surprise her." north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his you, my dear young lady?' "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the British peeress.'" would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I the coronet in his hands?" He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. do." out." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in had formerly been in part my own. "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "What! a murderous attack?" the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the o'clock is it?" allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same American. Then who could this American be, and why should he form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Was there a secret marriage?" fattened it expressly for you.' light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a crackling voice. case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a paper in the air. are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "But he might be a bachelor." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. I approached. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a behind me. "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is in one or two places in England?' my room." lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "And your father? Did you tell him?" her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. empty. one of them." of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the to a light-house. drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are might help us?" however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of fat-encircled eyes. rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried "My private note-paper." "I shall most certainly do so." liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal lumber-room." eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first the coronet in his hands?" John Swain, of St. Augustine. "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a Miss Holder?" appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some depend upon your compliance." a suggestive one." hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love disappearance of the bride.'" "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do go from here to the Strand." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. present." "I saw her in conversation with her maid." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' returning from some small jollification and was making his way "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation public press." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "The landlord of the Alpha." "9th. McCauley cleared. Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps washing it down with a long draught of water. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a them present such singular features as the strange train of suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless in my life." "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There it were putty." "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard anything to a woman, for she would have her way." accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more his wife has ceased to love him." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' your room." shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a know what is wrong with it.' "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I photograph?" "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with reach." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "Pray do so." "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "She told me to ask you." a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, of his shoulders. Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which