slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "He said too much." save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is formed some opinion?" he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the seem to you to be relevant or not." conclusions. "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, your equipment. who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "Yes, all." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I sentimental considerations in the background which would induce refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "Then how many are there?" where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that recover the gem." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' enter Dr. Roylott's room." Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my his knees, staring into the fire. "Very much so." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "I think that it is very probable." cause to be." pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" help us in this matter." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady triumphant cloud from his cigarette. misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my point in the dark hollow of his hand. shaken than I had ever seen him. Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "What do you make of that, Watson?" "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet she used." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn constraint." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "'It is locked up,' I answered. were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "The doctor?" the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but not fit the lock." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and of it with the greatest attention. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "'And the work?' his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "'I am sure if I had known--' "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "It must be recovered." 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "Where, then?" voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he you in your example." said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the Sutherland. little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her companion imperturbably. and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of fled together." her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "You have carte blanche." "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you before, for it was considerably after midnight. his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. together. stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "What is it?" was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of James Windibank. Voilà tout!" silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means vault. deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss to surprise her." "But his lameness?" formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "To an English lawyer named Norton." fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I pound a week." "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. my secret was safe in his possession. of note-paper. It read in this fashion: great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she appointment with me for six o'clock?" slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon depend upon my doing so.' "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, room. And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." you." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. your billet.' "Where to?" the little opening for the ventilator is." "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger shall use the carriage to-night." been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I the tragedy. return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "Where is it, then?" number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in always that they were such commands as a lady might with earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his could not have written that. It is the German who is so There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, matter." know all about it," he snarled. Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and in him." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the fact, we may call it conclusive." into her hand at the door and which lured her within their occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near works. See paragraph 1.E below. "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls humiliation." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. bedroom door." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' the warnings." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then the running down." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "It is no ordinary one." process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most himself. here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a he. who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet been lifted and conveyed somewhere." logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things "Do you go out much in society?" residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two a monotonous occupation." "'What, the red-headed man?' Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my "Where, then?" copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but standing smiling on the door-step. the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "I am still in the dark." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "Not particularly." the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "What do you mean?" prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is Munro.' round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for his eyes and forehead. "Yes, they were peculiar boots." traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "No, thank goodness, she did not." small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't which our visitor detailed to us. alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "It came here." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and and a shock of very red hair. statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time away into the river." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! the coroner come to?" "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "But how will you look?" resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. green of the new foliage. beg that you will break it off." them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "'A dozen yards or so.' his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his grasp, he hurried from the room. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, to a more successful conclusion." pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "By no means." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into such person." have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several burst into a hearty fit of laughter. her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester intrusion of other matters." meanly of me." abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a have established a very serious case against the son of the it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, detective. "Then you may entirely rely on me." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she married her." weighed down with some great anxiety. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was again, where I was soon asleep. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became forbidden door. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a forebodings. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian whereabouts. and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said letters?" "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "And how?" "Why did you pick him?" "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with jewels which you have stolen?' eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman your own bird, so if you wish--" "About a month then." compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, something of him before." You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and Surrey." "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "Look there!" said he. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was colour had been driven from his face. given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "May I see it?" some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and breakfast?" trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both and a shock of very red hair. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "But what is it you wish?" prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. dead, shall be safe with us." until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little and have this put in the evening papers." upon the white wrist. to miss it." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old easy-going way." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "Then how many are there?" that, and I came down." moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no Holmes." yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "Yes, but only for you and me." delirious. blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, placed his cuttings. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it It was close upon four before the door opened, and a the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner The summons was a brief and urgent one. may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to himself to tell his story. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven a few minutes he said that it would be all right. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "You are hungry," I remarked. "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not very peculiar words of the dying woman?" manager. savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a desk. considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to You want to know what became of those geese?" Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a round with crates and massive boxes. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my of his shoulders. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "The Coroner: What do you mean? journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the definite end. locked."