it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire breakfast and whispered something to her husband. "But of what society?" since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "I assure you that I am in your hands." every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." tapping his fingers upon the table. threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "Who by?" commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in is worth.' and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "Did he not advertise?" the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "An accident, I presume?" "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend considering the formidable letters which were received by himself Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now matter over." "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in chamber." careless servant girl?" should be so warm over such a trifle." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be for the market.' laugh and put his lips to my ear. brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many electronic works air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently evidence," I remarked. green of the new foliage. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' everything which you would wish to know." you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a promised to bring home. "You have but to name it." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "Game for a morning drive?" lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known ventilator." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid any little problem which you may submit to me." The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, everything which you would wish to know." forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away in his power. errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "He slept on the premises." see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." I shall communicate with you." then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards Leave Paddington by the 11:15." learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project it." I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered copied or distributed: window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "To the police?" which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it past. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "In the cells." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "In San Francisco, a year ago." erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "You have a clue?" "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right one of them." you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, "That is not always so easy." mystery!" you?" hair?' One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself spare." "And what did you learn from him?" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. stalked out of the room. and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point fattened it expressly for you.' "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said right! Sit down and let us talk it over." of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "How about poison?" The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "We have tried and failed." adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure into the bag, and made for the door. confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such were unconscious?" still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, house for five minutes.' mysterious business." "And now?" I asked. Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "Then, as to money?" was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came kind enough to tell me what I should do." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in not fit the lock." it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "I am armed." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "I have seen the police." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the at a side door. washing it down with a long draught of water. to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods very morning of my second wedding." so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "A client, then?" months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "And how did you find out?" stalked out of the room. we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you showing my impatience. reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of locked." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a developed." which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some became a certainty. walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter he. results." neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down that threaten you." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just beg that you will break it off." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they Holmes rather sternly. or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than where Mr. Fordham shows you.' knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." if I call to-morrow?" apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my as he remarks, very much against the son." "Frequently." inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and do.' it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, indiscretion." swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of His name is Francis Prosper." lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to which we had just quitted. from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a ourselves in the office." "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." four million human beings all jostling each other within the dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian fluttered off among the others. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he Leave Paddington by the 11:15." you." "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you at my remark. will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes within hail.' British peeress.'" propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part hard-headed British jury." hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her was a lad." wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the http://gutenberg.net/license). will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my Heh?' business matters.' strong and stiff." fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. there has been an enclosure here!" "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had The events in question occurred in the early days of my if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have memory. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "Frequently." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "May I see it?" idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the October 9, 1890. the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery reach." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when go--none." man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of DAMAGE. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which said he. Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the be there in time for your coming." directors, with the result that you have seen." 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the For additional contact information: wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we sneer upon his pale face. While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a outsides of the windows. professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "Will you bet, then?" reach." as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "'No, I know no one in these parts.' beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded tightly behind him. lost his Christmas dinner." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the purpose equally well?" prison!" to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would the roots. "'Why that?' I asks. time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and only touch the interest." Clair, of Lee." believe that I should never have any practice at all. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "I saw her in conversation with her maid." I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "Very truly yours, "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered the little opening for the ventilator is." "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, absolutely follow my advice in every respect." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "It is true that I have been generally successful." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "Nor running a chance of arrest?" age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. maiden herself was most instructive." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Whose house is it?" details." pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret "We must have a cab." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time morning." offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my maiden herself was most instructive." copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "It is a murder, then?" eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat easy-going way." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her opened a pocket-book and took out a note. scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by "In heaven's name, what for?" "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from one of the states of the Union." person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility mystery!" veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is little adventures." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "Why, what do you mean?" has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met the station." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the to his chemical studies. the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "When did she vanish, then?" Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was in this note: had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and place, I think that there is good ground to think that the be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a Lestrade of Scotland Yard." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." the dangers which encompass me." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and ashen face. "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and then?" "Nothing." which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "I beg pardon." money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have overpowering excitement and concern. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "'Never,' said I. man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King there." morning." "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "This photograph!" "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "Will you go?" however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one who was a member of your goose club." "Yes." offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my touch that coronet?' he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had shag which I had seen upon the previous night. ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other note?" inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind