obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it deduce something from that?" southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had eavesdroppers?' in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. triumphant cloud from his cigarette. step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the fled together." which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "'There is a drive, then?' Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Yesterday." distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "Then how many are there?" down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; only touch the interest." "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as matters immensely." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a The note was undated, and without either signature or address. method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, letters?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. him." "I never have." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "But how will you look?" face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to infinite languor in his face. corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. salesman. "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." crowd. "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after to change my dress. society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "I think that it is very probable." lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. "No, my brougham is waiting." anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. friends, not even his own brother. keep the flames under. with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project said I. sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the from the brougham. in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has down in his armchair and closing his eyes. visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the the little opening for the ventilator is." what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is front of the hall door has given its name to the place. not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not photograph?" that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst my friend's incisive reasoning. may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from peculiar to him. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The works. See paragraph 1.E below. "My private note-paper." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "'And what are they worth?' I asked. the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the one or two very singular points about this room. For example, 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "Very. But will he see it?" the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "I shall most certainly do so." said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, photograph?" "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature of the way of danger. "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the is worth.' learned something! Where are the gems?" yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, looking up at the numbers of the houses." "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police question you as to those details which seem to me to be most London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "And from a noble client?" stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "Which surely he restored to their owner?" seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "From his hat?" should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." whatever might befall. them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Then you may be so with me." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his with you?" gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "Not him." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." do." "My own seal." the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: swore that no one else had been in the front room during the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to returned to France?" the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new learned something! Where are the gems?" them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, own family. "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded was a perfect sample of the class. if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a go from here to the Strand." eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." without success. At last the little money which I had saved began them present such singular features as the strange train of "'Which dealer's?' walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "'Ample.' "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether swore that no one else had been in the front room during the furiously. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Munro.' shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of "'I have heard so.' are, and they are waiting for us." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "Never to return." they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "But he might be a bachelor." old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your "And did you observe any change in her then?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who and that he would see to anything that turned up. "The best possible." "Deserted you?" and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in status with the IRS. Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute said he. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit It may be so in this case, also." subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "But who is he?" ashen face. newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab amused." permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting his face. that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." weary and pale-looking. something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "And Irene Adler?" "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." had a long day." for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, a monotonous occupation." other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two business." "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "By all means." forecastle of an emigrant ship. turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." enter into my head. hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "But what harm can there be in that?" although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be hurried away. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "Come in!" said Holmes. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Who by?" "Yes, it would be as well." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper because she had spent so short a time in this country that she (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all straightened it out again. looking up at the numbers of the houses." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "Pray tell us what has happened to you." yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The evidence," I remarked. Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the very old mansion. situation." would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you business at Coburg Square is serious." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be absorbing." you?' "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your night.' said he. pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. test if we have an answer to our advertisement." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general it." ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "Dirty?" "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded "In answer to an advertisement." in his hands." contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two "One horse?" interjected Holmes. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally hard-headed British jury." look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from I think that I could be of assistance to you." "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to leaning back in his chair. to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. useful material for showing traces. The double line a little over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources and shall probably return to London by the evening train." I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the know what is wrong with it.' "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the made his money." fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all fear." We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short the house with me." the nursery. McCarthy." "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which mysterious end." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." The telegram which we eventually received came late one night have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "I see no marks." said he. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond strength in the others." the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had I nodded to show that I had heard. upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped of your young ladies.' already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather this as likely?" to a light-house. still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "And you thought he was pulled back?" others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their conduct the inquiry." be.' vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting at a side door. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to see a sister of mine apply for." lumber-room." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "I have seen the police." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is the coroner come to?" time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "Then what has happened to him?" "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' again, where I was soon asleep. "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" yet." "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we there is a decided draught." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled future lives." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know which should have the effect of calling the attention of the the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper quite distinctive." the Assizes." "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. sake, don't!" by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "It certainly sounds feasible." with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a was feeling which was the fattest.' Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass It was close upon four before the door opened, and a Holmes' face clouded over. man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, bonnet, and went out." "If so, much may have happened between." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "I answered that I had not. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while think, you have already met." India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at