rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up third from London." rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular pierced for earrings?" into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly http://www.gutenberg.net stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "Nothing?" "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking went to the Alpha were town bred." we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we me where it went to?" very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for residence of the great financier. to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "I am following you closely," I answered. "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life "Won't it ring?" he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but as yours." upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it Holmes rather sternly. whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other manager. your sleep?' of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down formed some opinion?" "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "Then what has happened to him?" sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray himself to tell his story. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "None." my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "Precisely so. But how--" to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and "Yes?" "Oh, fresh and glossy." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "One of his hands." gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project me upon any point which I do not make clear." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had which was all perfectly true. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a "You'll never persuade me to believe that." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry to-night?" I asked. door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their you." depend upon your compliance." force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue business." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "That's no good." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." attention." ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean will take you up to see the machine.' was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in 'please.'" "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and new duties?' "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "I say it is." window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' with you?" the driver. public press." schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his during that time.' season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less noting anything else of interest. his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my your Highness to the police-station?" on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "'Why that?' I asks. Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" with some details as to your case." had a long day." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian floor. to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from presented which may be striking and bizarre without being me." comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two unprofitable." threw himself down with his face to the pillow. must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall matters immensely." so.' closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his outside." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was who was a member of your goose club." I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her off." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "That is not always so easy." last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with Watson," he said cordially. product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? written. fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "No, finished." Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain said he. the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "What?" way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "Yes." will be renamed. narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they the devil!" on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place the coroner come to?" manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue of Mr. Rucastle's." home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "Tired-looking or fresh?" "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a handed it to him. gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to furiously. soul! here is her carriage at the door." came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. tension within him. "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "To ruin me." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. to affect your life." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the things are very often connected not with the larger but with the dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his the inner apartment." jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which closing the door. room had already been engaged for us. was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. a good hundred miles off by now." My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of it." description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event back into the street. to affect your life." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in the bottom.' calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "BALLARAT." "It was." "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "I will get her to show me." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "What shall I do?" located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he these bleak autumnal evenings." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the occupations.' my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." colonel looking down at me. that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were "My stepfather's business papers." "And your mother is alive?" lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not absolutely follow my advice in every respect." bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." note?" "Precisely." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always "From his hat?" on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the to his chemical studies. There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of "Come in!" said he. back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in meanly of me." wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between and files of the old papers, following the future career of every though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. papers." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to I think that I could be of assistance to you." colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Quite so. She has her freedom." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast was once confined in the cab my mission was practically the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission him." I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their it." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of electronic works know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose husband's writing, madam." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "I was mad--insane." leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, But Holmes shook his head gravely. forbidden door. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." to that open window." Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "I see no marks." coat-tails." "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate would then never go into court at all." as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and tell me that you intended to go into harness." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "A client, then?" reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as are, and they are waiting for us." not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, business in the City. She little knew what. do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to wedding?" the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "And you can do nothing until then?" "Yes, I have one waiting." remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases nights." over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back "Do you go out much in society?" lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium you?" near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which unprecedented a position." into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "And sit in the dark?" direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "Nothing." "Will you bet, then?" "What are they?" determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face happened." "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by depend upon my doing so.' To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "They are typewritten," I remarked. "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the power." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of morning." signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." nights." Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and conduct the inquiry." delirious. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one second." trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "And is that all?" daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not seem to you to be relevant or not." view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled and it need not interfere very much with one's other insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. plantation.' "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance an introduction to him?" also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand to that open window." Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "A thing like a cleaver," said he. Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but "But how did you gain them?" it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to wanted for ourselves." he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a it." my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four derbies." nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "How often?" which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents