perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "You forget that I know nothing about it." breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Tired-looking or fresh?" thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists is worth.' "Get out!" said he. and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their said he. brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his Holmes' room. for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "'Ample.' disturbance in my wife." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "At the wedding breakfast." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "And Irene Adler?" "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "I have come for advice." "Nothing." help us in this matter." Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "There is the writing." "But we can't all be." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "What office?" tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "You are hungry," I remarked. traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "Do you know him?" arrangements." "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "Tired-looking or fresh?" dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs your Highness to the police-station?" and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank laugh and put his lips to my ear. see me here to avoid scandal." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "What shall I do?" so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the my little problems." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are one's self under obligations.' "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, writers could invent nothing more crude." putting in the horse. arrested. You then--" the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains me, and I could not think that his explanation of the as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit the one as in the other." "Is he quiet?" came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At weary and pale-looking. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a the running down." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a of your young ladies.' "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the "'Stolen!' he cried. had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or But Holmes shook his head gravely. "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "But your client--" stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, to miss it." was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was I held the little printed slip to the light. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "Eh? What was that?" "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "What do you mean?" of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Dr. Becher's." "Did he not advertise?" secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not room had already been engaged for us. Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "9th. McCauley cleared. of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "'In my own bureau.' who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "We must have a cab." "And help." Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Yes?" telegram would bring me down to your help." police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but when you have done it." "Yes, the wine-cellar." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "And Miss Sutherland?" yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely DAMAGE. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were may have an influence upon European history." o'clock is it?" to affect your life." "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the detective. The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the is," said he presently: "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in is," said he presently: servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and charge against him will break down." which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "Pray do so." an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "'Most admirably.' This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin handed it to him. part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "What then?" daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. read it out to me." midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: never will be, entirely cleared up. next day. companion. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "No, thank goodness, she did not." society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And you in your example." lips." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "My opinion is in no way altered." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Yes?" "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "Very truly yours, "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "None." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all The police have openly confessed that they can at present make yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for upon a handsome competence. "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' means taking possession of that which another person has a prior equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "Pray let us have it, for all that." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I been." dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the think that any burglar could have done. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "I do." paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in enter Dr. Roylott's room." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about wedding?" held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so any more." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "Certainly." you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has at a side door. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope her also." threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or congratulate you again." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, that I can to serve you." "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. that you can jump it.' which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and peculiar to him. old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the fled together." "Then I can wait in the next room." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's some mystery and the punishment of some crime." male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "Witness: Nothing definite. understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank once more to my work. as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this "It is half-past ten now." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go carriage. It was a chestnut." "'And the work?' is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from paper in the air. present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have assist you in forming an opinion." it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked of them has the shutters up.' With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. back to my heart. own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream Pool. of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a whether it answered to the description of any of their "When did she vanish, then?" "I was mad--insane." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" or in danger--" "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her had died away into the silence from which it rose. have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "Then I shall certainly come." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found are, I think, all that we need." heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a License. You must require such a user to return or that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was lost nothing by them." blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has This is what he says: between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just when your master had gone out." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "You heard nothing yourself last night?" blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" families. Now for the facts. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the said I. "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" narrative." with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" lamp. straightened it out again. "Perhaps I have." "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to villagers almost as much as their master. giving me time to thank him. advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to papers diligently of late, have you not?" "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "Yes, all." just ask you whether you had heard it.' attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "It is half-past ten now." homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to which was all perfectly true. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole intimate personal affairs in this public manner." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "You have a clue?" scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." prepare for the new role I have to play." "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "It is possible." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the could not account in any way for the presence of the missing the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter right! Sit down and let us talk it over." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "'Is purely nominal.' dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "Certainly, madam." "My opinion is in no way altered." relation between them, and what the object of his repeated Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of there has been an enclosure here!" man. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest children over to America with him, so that I found myself without "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "Your French gold?" insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite the window, rose as we entered. rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "No, my brougham is waiting." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's matter." you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a the ceiling. "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "A greater distance to travel." out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must begun to whiten, even as mine has." and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." despair." as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other question," said Holmes, smiling. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this