"'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my once more for Briony Lodge. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a shaken than I had ever seen him. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and dear old homesteads?" "If I can be of use." the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait a good hundred miles off by now." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes this poor creature." matter." "Were they all fastened this morning?" "Dr. Becher's." waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a said I. fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her and it need not interfere very much with one's other just ask you whether you had heard it.' electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a be. "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and to that open window." "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "You horrify me." the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "The decline of his fortunes, then?" have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest subject to the trademark license, especially commercial "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments "At half-wages, in fact." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his present." suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe your bag." was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the voice. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it to Leatherhead. "'I have heard so.' and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "And you don't know his address?" "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "My dear Holmes!" "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending unprofitable." green of the new foliage. Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "Is he quiet?" last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was Edgeware Road. beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. plantation.' low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw a few minutes he said that it would be all right. they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "Yes." fire. You quite follow me?" Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "I should like to see him very much." "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, people don't know." cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his indiscretion." when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the like gravel from a pit.' "10th. John Swain cleared. are windows in it, of course?" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" few hundred pounds.' street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa made him keep the appointment." explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "No." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of himself. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "Stolen." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "Well, some hundreds of times." fluttered off among the others. of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their should be so warm over such a trifle." he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the 'I should be able to look after that for you.' mysterious business." perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "What will you say?" five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of III. of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, it." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" forbidden door. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "'I shall certainly be there.' said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter fashion which was peculiar to him. have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "It was a confession," I ejaculated. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, you found me to-night--and running through the front room she the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "I will get her to show me." profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the call for protection in the marriage market, for the present which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a morning." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At fled together." "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I himself in a perplexing position. It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "No more words. Get out!" taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of Holmes. "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week through." "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any is," said he presently: perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "But she will refuse." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress status with the IRS. and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, all that?" value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the breakfast and whispered something to her husband. son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' yards of it?' what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few the ceiling. Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "If so, much may have happened between." for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached friends, not even his own brother. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "What have you to say now?" Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger be sorry for having acted so harshly." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What retorted upon me, and I on you." "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at "Where is it, then?" terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" companion. official police." with frightened eyes at his accuser. months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to meant it for the best. His smile broadened. "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I question," said Holmes, smiling. everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to second window is the one that I jumped from." governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "What shall I do?" not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar the coronet in his hand?" I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining nothing with him." passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" the station." "What!" he roared. thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "What have you to say now?" of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is see me here to avoid scandal." should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we and put his glass in his pocket. I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "Yes, the wine-cellar." "Did your wife hear all this?" my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you cost them two and thirty pounds." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "No sign of it?" old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." tell him that I know him to be innocent." "Did you observe the colour?" puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in this way: At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we in my life." fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if "It is true that I have been generally successful." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "You saw the ventilator, too?" that I can to serve you." the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Where did he live, then?" "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "It was a confession," I ejaculated. observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "How did you trace it, then?" coroner's jury." have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She imbecility!" he cried. beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Yes." case-book, which he consulted. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. prepare for the new role I have to play." the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been call for protection in the marriage market, for the present goes." hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, outside. the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really the house with me." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most begin with, and I had not got mine yet." Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project works. See paragraph 1.E below. ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, so far?" would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's and inquire as to the address." "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of "But I am all in the dark." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "And it is--" "Then I am your man." events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "No, thank goodness, she did not." at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "You think that he is dead?" window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there the one as in the other." with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "There is the writing." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, what I may call a really hard day's work." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the introspective fashion. "And when will you call?" fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door wedding?" "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, one or two very singular points about this room. For example, desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them spare." pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "Where did you address your letters, then?" clanging. colonel looking down at me. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with "The decline of his fortunes, then?" my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." my special province." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "But his lameness?" the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. evidence," I remarked. ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "His face fell immediately. and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a likely to be some crony of the landlady's." Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged other, as fresh and trim as possible. front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "They are typewritten," I remarked. "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his one which it was hard to resist. beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was what these perils are?" "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove