"'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, about. roused himself from his reverie. "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "We must sit without light. He would see it through the office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that brought there to personate someone, and the real person is prepare for the new role I have to play." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend one which it was hard to resist. "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually undoubtedly my uncle's." smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, ready to-morrow?' betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "Why? What do you mean?" "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet the morning and make my own way in the world.' as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "On your arm?" the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to done what I asked you, Jones?" from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "A client, then?" all?" course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "It is his hat." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. the little opening for the ventilator is." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "It is possible." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." "'And what are they worth?' I asked. opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the of note-paper. It read in this fashion: clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. time." just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in excitement. "And now?" He raised his hand. for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after plantation.' the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "It is to him that this trophy belongs." gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "It is his hat." "Perhaps we may make them less so." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to yards of it?' "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. Doctor, of the paper and the date." experiences." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "That's no good." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have here." "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my towards the blaze. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." approach us with offers to donate. brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would was keenly on my guard against him. My friend smiled. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "Yes, all." "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." served to weaken the effect. is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster the devil!" mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the "The gentleman I describe." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "So I have heard." "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit God! What an exposure! What can I do?" handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "Yes." pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "I cannot tell." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the key of the affair now." "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking charged with?" Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up "Could he throw no light?" "Certainly." "Always." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this of them has the shutters up.' branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was instincts rose up against that laugh. behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front helping a boy to put up the shutters. have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come Heh?' "'Entirely.' be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the fear." "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "But I have heard all that you have heard." stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular see me here to avoid scandal." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "Breckinridge is his name." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too "I saw her in conversation with her maid." considering the formidable letters which were received by himself chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed were new raised from a basin. to me. the very letters. But what is this written above them?' in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward Have you good authority for what you say?" unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "None." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." lids now and glanced across at his visitor. met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "My dear Holmes!" assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the gbnewby@pglaf.org Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, have got?" The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he hour?' "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in that he has suffered." murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The "Just look it up, then." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly the inner apartment." "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always the Red-headed League." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to papers diligently of late, have you not?" "Did your wife hear all this?" the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it to you." a little more before I quite committed myself. Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local presented more singular features than that which was associated particular state visit http://pglaf.org leave you to your papers for a little." Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that works. See paragraph 1.E below. "Oh, yes, easily." learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." woven round him. "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from money should be paid at once.' dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down pity, because in other respects you would really have done very bearing upon the case." Street. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the During two years I have had three consultations and one small here and I will read it to you: "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf fashion which was peculiar to him. the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "Two days later this same performance was gone through under impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "'And what salary do you ask?' by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he shaken than I had ever seen him. "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always other, as fresh and trim as possible. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "'Is purely nominal.' sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional flock.' bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" again, where I was soon asleep. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "And Irene Adler?" "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the be there in time for your coming." monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "'As governess?' within hail.' is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of was already answered. India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you investigation." "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade "Never to return." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "Pray tell us what has happened to you." glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the that I am arrested." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at that he will be back before evening." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' very morning of my second wedding." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he down. cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "And your mother is alive?" moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about and no precautions can guard against." rooms." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a into her hand at the door and which lured her within their with the outside air!" conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get answered with a sidelong glance. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley "Yes, only one." Sutherland. until night should bring an explanation. to take care of herself." twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "But what will you do?" that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw this unhappy family?" "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed wedding?" lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' good for you to do.' pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I and a shock of very red hair. these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other guilty parties." "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King lumber-room." "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, have established a very serious case against the son of the said Mr. Holder. "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and had died away into the silence from which it rose. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was me have 200 pounds?' "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Perhaps we may make them less so." "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an question. generous with you in money matters.' autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from prove to be little relation between the different incidents of room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow excitement. "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook such attractions and accomplishments?' rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts.