other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking system of imprisonment?" office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those cigars in their mouths. introspective fashion. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people think that he is innocent?" the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. call it cruel." "I was mad--insane." that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had legal crime." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point business." and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square your sleep?' therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a introspective fashion. went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know something of him before." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I Dr. Gregory B. Newby it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once It may be so in this case, also." with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "Who was the criminal, then?" "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. said he, "my real name is James Ryder." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "The gentleman I describe." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug signal between you and your father? "'It is locked up,' I answered. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. which it had come upon my father." "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "In heaven's name, what for?" he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security in his hands." have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "ARAT," I read. "Why, what do you mean?" that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place national property. I was determined that the law should have its way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It him nearly every evening." "What are they?" connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "But his left-handedness." side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very "Whose house is it?" two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "'Ample.' the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many the warnings." "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from colour had been driven from his face. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they anything to a woman, for she would have her way." prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper in your London, you will know that the office of the company is of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were do.' keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. conclusions. regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some ready to-morrow?' "Very truly yours, "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, during the last few years, and there are many noble families to connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the date of his supposed suicide." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker "Not yet." and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob brain must have something in it." breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it asked. collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were national property. I was determined that the law should have its which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' this Miss Turner." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "Pray continue your narrative." smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "Was he the only applicant?" A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and photograph?" "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "Do you go out much in society?" October 9, 1890. how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "'Tell me all about it,' said I. in this note: more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal fuss that is made over them." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "Come in!" said Holmes. while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' horse could go." side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other like that before?" of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his giving me time to thank him. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual other, as fresh and trim as possible. "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "And when will you call?" sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as for the market.' sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on appeal." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "You horrify me!" dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not absorbing." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, hands. "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." do.' very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who cigars in their mouths. Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to to me. society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come true." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he to Leatherhead. he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Well." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his official police." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack it. taking in every detail of the apartment. Arthur Conan Doyle were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the this man was intellectual?" analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "Which are?" lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do advice." through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat head. So long, then!" when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if man. you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "I don't say that. Perhaps." "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible pierced for earrings?" - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "I will try. What is it?" had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, room had already been engaged for us. The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "And you thought he was pulled back?" "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, even of instruction." man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of Edgeware Road. them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was suddenly upon us." "'What then?' I asked. "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "And it is--" of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us eat it." away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a roused himself from his reverie. the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and hard-headed British jury." "You horrify me!" eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your back to my heart. The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about families. Now for the facts. here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from forbidden door. at home. family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe attention." yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I people don't know." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "No, my brougham is waiting." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their tear off another piece?' that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." second window is the one that I jumped from." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight our word." "It came here." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how was keenly on my guard against him. of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." But Holmes shook his head gravely. wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the were wasted." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "Your French gold?" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "Certainly." He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "And why in hopes?" I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "You were travelling in the States?" stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it would then never go into court at all." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "I have solved it." produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is three of the beryls in it, was missing. "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out daring than any effort of the imagination." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the detective. explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they present." he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "And on what day did he meet his death?" be sorry for having acted so harshly." of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, three of the beryls in it, was missing. at home. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the dangers which encompass me." without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed "Absolutely?" last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should use an arc-and-compass breastpin." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. felt the room to be a little close.' one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we few hundred pounds.' "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for man. I know him from the photograph." 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "I do." seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "BALLARAT." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all said I. "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." coat-tails." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have present." vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this trifles." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all business at Coburg Square is serious." "But you were on a friendly footing?" this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "'It is locked up,' I answered. "No." the coronet in his hand?" had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after and effective." ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "No legal papers or certificates?" her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had "Because he was handy and would come cheap." doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or during which he might have communicated with his friend the erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of case-book, which he consulted.