may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug writer." "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it posted to-day." "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the him, that man would not have given me such complete information so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of as he folded up the epistle. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "I was sure that I might rely on you." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, the devil!" man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an Miss Holder?" "I will, Miss Turner." "He said that you could solve anything." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was she used." a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the companion. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "Was she in good spirits?" flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have if she died from some sudden fright." I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." open." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "I cannot say that I have." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met quite distinctive." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, case before our client came into the room." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "But she will refuse." you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem Lee, in the county of Kent." harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good prison!" "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my individual and becomes the badge of a society." status with the IRS. and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. words came to my lips. rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when crowd. planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there presented more singular features than that which was associated hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "An accident, I presume?" nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "Your French gold?" shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "You have compromised yourself seriously." "She walked into the breakfast-room." in the hope of finding them." would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." could gather together that I was able to avert another public "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "He is dead," cried several voices. too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose figure." Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "No." a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "And on what day did he meet his death?" every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "'And what are they worth?' I asked. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the promised to bring home. there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "Entirely." engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin throat." matter." that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "'About the same.' certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which you understand?" into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was felt the room to be a little close.' has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. forbidden door. you?" valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, room. man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will from the brougham. that?' and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a there when the Rucastles went away." the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business front of the hall door has given its name to the place. populous neighbourhood." green of the new foliage. Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "That you are never beaten." had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these Cross for the Continent." and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a acted in my house last night?" seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "Then you may be so with me." have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have Holmes." Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "No, I had a dozen." Gutenberg-tm License. I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked weighed down with some great anxiety. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "At the wedding breakfast." ready to-morrow?' suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be and put his glass in his pocket. as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, companion. company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "Well, it is a possible supposition." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Not social, then?" "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "The gentleman I describe." the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." guilty parties." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Yes, I have one waiting." Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "'Yes, it was gone.' the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "What shall I do?" standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than was keenly on my guard against him. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other the tragedy. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "Do you receive much company?" he asked. offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will she might be summoned. time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned leaning back in his chair. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "It looks newer than the other things?" just ask you whether you had heard it.' call you and give you the chance." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes the roots. it with his own hands." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out strong and stiff." our word." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last ill-usage at the hands of fortune. younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "I have my revolver," said I. "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "It is half-past ten now." "9th. McCauley cleared. "Yes." drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her be sorry for having acted so harshly." "What I expected to see." Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even "You think that he is dead?" of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "We must sit without light. He would see it through the having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it went to the Alpha were town bred." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, walking." "Ha! you find it so?" "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "In which, sir?" Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "And your mother is alive?" PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. sneer upon his pale face. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding closely." written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" read it out to me." papers diligently of late, have you not?" "But you can know nothing of this?" "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, to-night." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the again, where I was soon asleep. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them written. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my Young McCarthy must be got off, however." "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and as he folded up the epistle. he died? It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right crime. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "'A dozen yards or so.' in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through ventilator." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "That is easily got." there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H considering the formidable letters which were received by himself revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of fuss that is made over them." "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she "Nearly eleven." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature had died away into the silence from which it rose. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all populous neighbourhood." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "How did he come?" mysterious end." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "But you would not advise me to refuse?" were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the case before our client came into the room." patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress It was close upon four before the door opened, and a time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed death." fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass some mystery and the punishment of some crime." straightened it out again. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, I think that I could be of assistance to you." "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere outsides of the windows. about. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any of Mr. Rucastle's." Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Seven!" I answered. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "What! a murderous attack?" "A client, then?" coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler daring than any effort of the imagination." placed his cuttings. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "Yes, it would be as well." the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "When did she vanish, then?" Young McCarthy must be got off, however." been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." hard-headed British jury." floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must a suggestive one." "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "An enemy?" cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but said he at last. "That also I could fathom." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "At half-wages, in fact." that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box I am not easy in my mind about them." question. precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not that?' "Yes." clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "What of the rat, then?" it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "What, then, did Peterson do?" her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he