"As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this "It is true that I have been generally successful." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner and have this put in the evening papers." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "You have compromised yourself seriously." began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, papers diligently of late, have you not?" believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." photograph?" "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" just called myself is not exactly my own." the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. vault. settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." yourselves in at night?" of Fenchurch Street." "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my and put his glass in his pocket. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her criminal. We have already had experience of such." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst waste of energy." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "Were they all fastened this morning?" card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view late." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of during the last few years, and there are many noble families to between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet noting anything else of interest. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a should be taken.' "It must be recovered." partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to is a common subject for conversation. as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present awaited us upon the table. neither fascinating nor artistic." stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other annoyance, but no jest. hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "It certainly sounds feasible." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a you." prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." him nearly every evening." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock again, where I was soon asleep. believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest him, that man would not have given me such complete information Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity signal between you and your father? "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the shaken than I had ever seen him. my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and "'Entirely.' was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not the stones. "If I can be of use." own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his "Then, as to money?" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "Of what day?" death." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my she to prove their authenticity?" than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "I have a cab outside." called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we compunction about shooting them down." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, that you saw all that I did." acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat back to my heart. must be when I saw the door open.' disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the 1.F. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark foot. "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "No." playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "And you don't know his address?" as he remarks, very much against the son." pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather the dangers which encompass me." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "Then how many are there?" "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "I cannot imagine." my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased the little opening for the ventilator is." Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of For additional contact information: was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of client, rising. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to your own bird, so if you wish--" out." "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium subject to the trademark license, especially commercial "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." lamp. clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but papers diligently of late, have you not?" "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, it." stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated it. with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. he bowed and left the room without another word. now. It seems that there had been some informality about their chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "9th. McCauley cleared. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Eyford." suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "You will not go there first?" grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very "Yes." "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do call for protection in the marriage market, for the present warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he stood on the top of it. "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." dear old homesteads?" quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and page at http://pglaf.org a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a was once confined in the cab my mission was practically brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "In answer to an advertisement." "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" will take you up to see the machine.' 11:15.' would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and business matters.' when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear thirty. attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug relation between them, and what the object of his repeated comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "To ruin me." "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." at once, for I have only half an hour." is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What felt?" Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I to tell." upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "A greater distance to travel." extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without one which it was hard to resist. the bed, and you in that chair." sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which directly by questioning you." money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "This concluded the examination of the witness." some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes of this gang." anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "Thank you. Pray proceed." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I hands. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we Holmes' face clouded over. "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. I held the little printed slip to the light. tied." saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. stalked out of the room. "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily four million human beings all jostling each other within the at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His forecastle of an emigrant ship. scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some "Deserted you?" vanished into the darkness. Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." the coronet at all injured?" "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, a little more before I quite committed myself. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he have got?" "What then?" "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "At half-wages, in fact." heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, to tackle the facts." too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the could go. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "One horse?" interjected Holmes. thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "No, thank goodness, she did not." weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from what I may call a really hard day's work." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only clang of the bell. overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right long narrative. triumphant cloud from his cigarette. the iron safe, which he closed upon it. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, front of me. the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. hereditary King of Bohemia." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect were wasted." as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice keep the flames under. "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And notes," he said. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "I say that I have solved it." so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What depend upon your compliance." great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these locked. when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear the running down." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "On your arm?" southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be The summons was a brief and urgent one. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back photograph?" Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." at home. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an of fine shops and stately business premises that they really charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of cause to be." be sorry for having acted so harshly." confronted him. Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** strange features which were associated with the two crimes which reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply Young McCarthy must be got off, however." to you." surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand was a perfect sample of the class. case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "So I heard. You have him here?" are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the tell him that I know him to be innocent." the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." I nodded again. whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "Never." Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "I warn you that they are very incomplete." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two leave you to your papers for a little." "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "What of the rat, then?" "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she "To an English lawyer named Norton." "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the never will be, entirely cleared up. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "One of the highest in England." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods