wall." "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's noble correspondent could be. "But how will you look?" that, and I came down." the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you emerged. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great guilty parties." "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, rooms." "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my intrusion of other matters." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful new acquaintance to Baker Street. slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a here and I will read it to you: neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the note?" that I am arrested." "'In my own bureau.' has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most side. and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." "VIOLET HUNTER." did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his noble correspondent could be. cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can only touch the interest." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "You have compromised yourself seriously." "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "And from a noble client?" are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the second." her also." a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a and it need not interfere very much with one's other he. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The "No, I think that I'll take it." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. "'I am sure that I do not know.' tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be once more on the important position which you have been fortunate me upon any point which I do not make clear." upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "Texas, I think." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "Your presence might be invaluable." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "What then?" have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Yes." think you a quite exceptional woman." "The gentleman I describe." the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his meant." wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check will find little credit to be gained out of this case." into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad Countess of Morcar's?" how narrow had been my escape. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "Yes." "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down to change my dress. meant." me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a tail." "'Is 4 pounds a week.' process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to felt?" Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the Miss Holder?" nice household for a young lady." insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution to a more successful conclusion." "I see many objections to any such theory." trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Tired-looking or fresh?" Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, careless servant girl?" learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, good for you to do.' relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a them present such singular features as the strange train of premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' forecastle of an emigrant ship. years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable that, and I came down." down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may murdered man." mystery." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to sentimental considerations in the background which would induce inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from these bleak autumnal evenings." rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the The events in question occurred in the early days of my like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my place no limit on the sum I may draw." "A confidential servant?" very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain of it with the greatest attention. all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good "Where, then?" wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "You did not overhear what they said?" "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest formed some opinion?" active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' meant it for the best. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." will he say when he returns?" as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has affair. "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "Yes, but only for you and me." "'Tell me all about it,' said I. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's chance at all." our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "'How far from the body?' crowd. your sleep?' some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "How did you deduce the select?" that I am arrested." It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "Then, as to money?" "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "Always." and it need not interfere very much with one's other "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and you give your casting vote to?" the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "Nothing." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of invisible to me," I remarked. "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "What I expected to see." returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" only touch the interest." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the McCarthy's innocence. other, as fresh and trim as possible. would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "Certainly." and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for the driver. Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the o'clock is it?" us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' any more." your troubles." tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the from you?" galvanised. bed dies. Does not that strike you?" clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and not personally threatened." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "It is half-past ten now." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "At the wedding breakfast." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan train from Paddington which would bring you there at about "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not third from London." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" IS out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she been lifted and conveyed somewhere." settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was himself to tell his story. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of advice." for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a But Holmes shook his head gravely. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of on in his house." I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said article?" assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "Holmes, the busybody!" cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "'Tell me all about it,' said I. seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "Witness: I must still refuse. as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the be best to do. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it was not a bird to be seen there. "'As governess?' snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "But he might be a bachelor." "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for detained." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is tightly behind him. platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "You are certainly joking, Holmes." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other carriage. It was a chestnut." "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon second window is the one that I jumped from." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "One of his hands." were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was conversation I have gathered that they have been married about analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an Lestrade of Scotland Yard." have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders in darkness. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To in this way: "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I standing smiling on the door-step. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "'Ample.' have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she Lee, in the county of Kent." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two dear old homesteads?" this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "By no means." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had business." But Holmes shook his head gravely. in. do you make of it all?" pictures, libraries, or plate. evidence," I remarked. inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or approach us with offers to donate. down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, the iron safe, which he closed upon it. of Mr. Rucastle's." John Swain, of St. Augustine. Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "And why?" "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two fasten all the windows?" tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached shag which I had seen upon the previous night. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "I will do it." With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to "But he might be a bachelor." equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in appeal." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step said I. Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you you." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "How did that help you?" "Certainly." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the bearing upon the case." "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is Count Von Kramm." upon the shelf for the interim." time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them events than those which have happened in my own family." "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached fear."