"What do you mean?" "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "What! a murderous attack?" Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a coroner's jury." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was I leave." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' read it out to me." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the without a word or a look. through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the the inner apartment." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the me. fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "You are all wrong." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "I should wish to." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is silent! Oh, he will be silent!' hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "I cannot imagine." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that out of this horrible affair." is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "And how?" in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "Entirely." The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "Never to return." "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just the King without delay." roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, noble correspondent could be. scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow begun to whiten, even as mine has." get her out of the way." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "What then?" was the fact that his father should, according to his account, the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "If so, much may have happened between." going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for the very letters. But what is this written above them?' Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "'And the work?' prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "I fear not." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at know that the truth is known." "What then?" me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had colonel looking down at me. loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey foresight and the moral retrogression?" from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "It's nothing of the kind." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "You have a clue?" "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "When did she vanish, then?" hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. most interesting one." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat strode off upon his way. "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "Certainly." depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the be best to do. said I. American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the to tackle the facts." part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the companion. balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with locked." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must existence." "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that I shall continue with my miserable story. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I Holmes' face clouded over. round and wave him away like that.' transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which here and I will read it to you: "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "Very. But will he see it?" what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the of the efforts of the United States government and of the better screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached meant it for the best. drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "One horse?" interjected Holmes. street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." here." to some other building. street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are I nodded to show that I had heard. have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east of them has the shutters up.' suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My highroad, where all traces were lost. could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and because she had spent so short a time in this country that she places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her will not take me long to tell. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into next day. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what families. Now for the facts. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard we went to search for him, face downward in a little my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover "I say that I have solved it." chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. envelope. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her matters immensely." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps foresight and the moral retrogression?" The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of present." his eyes and forehead. of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy the Friday. Was it to be in church?" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "But the mystery?" "'And what are they worth?' I asked. your only hope of safety." "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "I came to find a friend." go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey there were so many in the whole country as were brought together 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "I see no marks." "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the one of them." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their might have a private word with us. the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang beyond words. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "'It is locked up,' I answered. "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather train.' charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps asked. her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that garden below. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." me what he had done with the three missing stones. uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with What do you deduce from it?" "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "And I." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to her also." By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." foresight and the moral retrogression?" "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become fattened it expressly for you.' THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you highly," said Holmes. characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "She walked into the breakfast-room." danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Which are?" "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy your own bird, so if you wish--" "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "No, I had a dozen." which we had just quitted. my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination you?" "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire "I promise," said Holmes. tension within him. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Yes." remarked. The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "The doctor?" streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "None. Neville wrote those words." Heh?' was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from any more." clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest face and glided from the room. 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, your billet.' investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "'Never.' "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. that he has suffered." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "And on what day did he meet his death?" the coronet in his hands?" 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without eat it." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable constraint." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "And on what day did he meet his death?" Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "The vanishing of the lady." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. matter over." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful you in yours." room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly front of me. "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "I never have." age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell get the tickets." which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. matter over." side. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was gigantic client. toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to south, for the country is more deserted there." about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his that I can to serve you." a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this four million human beings all jostling each other within the If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the there." "I am about to be married." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I the inner apartment." in a friendly supper." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass emerged. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned