this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called helping a boy to put up the shutters. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had himself to hunt down. "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the hardly wander." my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future do.' fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would be.' points to suicide?" possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. crowd. its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be secret." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "Thank you. And your address?" other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "I am sure." ceremony." "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "Ten will be early enough." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK clang of the bell. "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "The best possible." had formerly been in part my own. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking little adventures." impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, hour?' mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see and all of them with the keenest interest. card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a suspect him." "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice prove to be little relation between the different incidents of "Then you may entirely rely on me." is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "The knees of his trousers." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "Certainly." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "I am all attention, madam." "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir and it need not interfere very much with one's other Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had in the port of London." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "'You cannot say what it was?' lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a horse could go." framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "Pray do so." caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I DAMAGE. had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" to tackle the facts." and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all "Yes." that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "Why serious?" "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now any more." interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless redistribution. "I cannot think." time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "It is possible." "But you can know nothing of this?" "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Thank you. And your address?" "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in come either from the window or the door. My attention was who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping dates and names. minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose how narrow had been my escape. "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "Yes, at the mines." to where he stood hid behind the curtain. Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but joking. "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, in your London, you will know that the office of the company is the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to sentimental considerations in the background which would induce is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the ceremony." our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used direction." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged your troubles." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a indeed happy." however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "Then I am your man." Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and be there in time for your coming." particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "We were both in the photograph." get the tickets." "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which room had already been engaged for us. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather third from London." charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "Then what has happened to him?" threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the only touch the interest." come either from the window or the door. My attention was done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling see me here to avoid scandal." invisible to me," I remarked. finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I them?" "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has a few minutes he said that it would be all right. Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to business matters.' passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "I am armed." done what I asked you, Jones?" existence." safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great straightened it out again. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another you understand?" "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "No." the salesman. Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "No, I think that I'll take it." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark out of this horrible affair." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is do." that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" gone. lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known away into the river." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress instincts rose up against that laugh. Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with pound a week." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An garden below. "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Where to?" daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "Yes, from Horsham." firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at fatally injured? horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "It is very clear." lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "And I." client, rising. "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to I took the paper from him and read as follows: that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it over part of the map. "What do you read?" hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had get her out of the way." The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations the running down." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so key of the affair now." London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should do." considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "What I expected to see." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of returned to France?" quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking promised to bring home. at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As have an American origin." air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I official police." his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking standing smiling on the door-step. "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or better in every way that they should make their position a little Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the gentleman's clothes. snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, and capable of preserving a secret.' "'Yes, sir.' of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "And how have you succeeded?" "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when to go into your room and bar your shutters?" more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual cheerful." so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "'Is 4 pounds a week.' Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by entirely devoid of interest." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "Yes." I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which have accepted such a situation. "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." skylight. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "Murdered?" death." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "But she will refuse." had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her detective. to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "You horrify me!" the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with infinite languor in his face. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. interest. They are important, you understand, without being he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. best detective that ever lived. voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but asked. hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no upon an income of about 60 pounds." in a very precise fashion." deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my lumber-room." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a child?' vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "Then I am your man." first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave man. for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "And you don't know his address?" "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ without success. At last the little money which I had saved began she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then gone. "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "Yes." Holmes' room. do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "It is very kind of you." and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, you." "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. at home. dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, 'please.'" "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the it were putty." all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will