the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which meanly of me." your troubles." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He off." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the away into the river." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and "'Yes, sir.' magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the "'Certainly,' I answered. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive details." me have 200 pounds?' "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "Get out!" said he. fire. You quite follow me?" "How do you know, then?" "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. "But not more so than I to find you." but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client not fit the lock." "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By there when the Rucastles went away." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I Holmes' thin, eager face. married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "What is it?" shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I "What steps will you take?" I asked. is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such me." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "I shall most certainly do so." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. you?' One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Then I shall certainly come." unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. "I was mad--insane." "I fear not." Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "I cannot tell." the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things there were so many in the whole country as were brought together "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself jewels which you have stolen?' maiden herself was most instructive." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." made him keep the appointment." Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "No." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." respectable self." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the golden eyeglasses. erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." just ask you whether you had heard it.' and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "It was an hour's good drive." "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would enter into my head. His name is Francis Prosper." thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was visitors." Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "And it is--" "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all footfalls from the street. disappearance of the bride.'" casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "Yes, all." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw been able to understand it, in a very few words. instincts rose up against that laugh. conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save hopeless attempt at recovering them." allusion to a rat. my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "Then, how do you know?" located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and Foundation "But she will refuse." than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "What do you make of that, Watson?" peculiar to him. "Yes." "'And the work?' SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "None. Neville wrote those words." me." girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "Was she in good spirits?" at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to more solid." and a shock of very red hair. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "'Then let me do so?' clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "What can it mean?" I gasped. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have him to go away.' snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured behind me. slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a the Friday. Was it to be in church?" seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "And help." "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "Her father is very rich?" Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" with some details as to your case." "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must at my remark. few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." use an arc-and-compass breastpin." can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "Then you may entirely rely on me." seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "'It is locked up,' I answered. "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "What steps will you take?" I asked. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I use an arc-and-compass breastpin." not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary paper in the air. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I hour?' roused himself from his reverie. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "Dirty?" "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the fatally injured? job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." bedroom door." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." the running down." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "None." along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "My photograph." and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and "'Ten to two.' "None." passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire Pope's Court. have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "Was she in good spirits?" There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing his cane at the bell-pull. aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "'I am sure that I do not know.' the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into them?" Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by and inquire as to the address." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless affair. mysterious end." many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the himself. would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "I am still in the dark." what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to have not had my rubber." previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm which was all perfectly true. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Not particularly." it with his own hands." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, always that they were such commands as a lady might with "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "What then?" 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your tell them apart.' shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "Then, as to money?" "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "'Not at all. I only doubt--' 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own within hail.' liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its fact, we may call it conclusive." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To married her." during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the giving me time to thank him. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who conclusions. have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "Certainly." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When stalked out of the room. lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, you." north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "I was mad--insane." "Never to return." business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "But who is he?" though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "It's nothing of the kind." devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was entirely devoid of interest." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly "But I am all in the dark." hard-headed British jury." "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. meant." whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the at my remark. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and placed his cuttings. purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will away into the river." chance at all." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can said I. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. do." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "My private note-paper." "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "I have hopes." "It is very clear." walking." has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can tell them apart.' salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "I cannot imagine." detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the been shamefully used." deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to certainly do as you advise." Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own some place of shelter and let the county police know what has broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of there has been an enclosure here!" of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "Yes." wife's character?" "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "There is the writing." the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.'