hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady if only as a check to my own memory." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George tightly behind him. disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, introspective fashion. "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "You horrify me!" "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "It is possible." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "I will try. What is it?" (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "You will not go there first?" 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a writer." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" constraint." week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him to tell." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my was the fact that his father should, according to his account, to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then gone. "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. Sutherland. flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may carried out of court." Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to memory. weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "The vanishing of the lady." They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit might help us?" "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. the station." "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently was once confined in the cab my mission was practically ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' fat-encircled eyes. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "Bought." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking to-night." to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time more terrible than the truth. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at his forehead." with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. hands. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "What of the rat, then?" hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said think that any burglar could have done. against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that "Ample." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, and put his glass in his pocket. during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who some mystery and the punishment of some crime." at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Yes, he did." "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. least a fellow-countryman. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the fasten all the windows?" "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience at once, for I have only half an hour." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the Sholtos." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of fattened it expressly for you.' companion. A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "And you don't know his address?" happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." know what is wrong with it.' the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Never to return." "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the what I may call a really hard day's work." my secret was safe in his possession. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to had a long day." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his happened." ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "'No, I know no one in these parts.' in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine a monotonous occupation." "What, then?" creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were sneer upon his pale face. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the bill, which interests me deeply." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "But he might be a bachelor." in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "No legal papers or certificates?" "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how the very morning of the wedding." "'Certainly not.' be sorry for having acted so harshly." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "But not more so than I to find you." the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "But how will you look?" though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment his eyes and forehead. official police." he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "We have tried and failed." straighten it?" "But how could you guess what the motive was?" the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite 'I should be able to look after that for you.' clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and arrested. You then--" You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." electronic works "Deserted you?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. seen the man in the road." "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. Street. she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium to-night." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack to surprise her." My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know yards of it?' very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between of note-paper. It read in this fashion: the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, enter Dr. Roylott's room." "Can I be of assistance?" "It certainly sounds feasible." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "'You cannot say what it was?' which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is character. hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and "'Where could I find him?' which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more his grey eyes. is acting for the best. "A thing like a cleaver," said he. with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "No. His orders were to stay in the house." hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "The King of Scandinavia." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." "What?" both be extremely obliged.' Mrs. Toller serenely. providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of the salesman. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. with you?" "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote Literary Archive Foundation beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "Then, how do you know?" moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door and that he would see to anything that turned up. Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of was already answered. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "You think so, too?" "He slept on the premises." "I should be immensely obliged to you." most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You hurried away. estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "I have a cab outside." expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. I have it here in my museum." "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in assist you in forming an opinion." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "The murder was done with it." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time case before our client came into the room." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there "The vanishing of the lady." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to morning." kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "He said that you could solve anything." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything disturbance in my wife." "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, just called myself is not exactly my own." the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. stalked out of the room. LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so Sutherland. "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a reach." "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped 'please.'" caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! note?" broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' annoyance, but no jest. "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." true." the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "I should like to see him very much." mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "It looks newer than the other things?" "What can you not understand?" "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" developed." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years sentimental considerations in the background which would induce to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord o'clock is it?" faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of were wasted." however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, vanished into the darkness. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more Holmes' face clouded over. success. his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "It's nothing of the kind." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "Always." snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with thin, with a long, sharp nose?" only touch the interest." shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from said he, "my real name is James Ryder." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in be. the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be Have you good authority for what you say?" whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. completely overtopped every other consideration that we both hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to have got?" "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "How did you trace it, then?" hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in train from Paddington which would bring you there at about breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "You heard nothing yourself last night?" "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare murdered man." "ARAT," I read. moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, here and I will read it to you: impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon the roots. tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to You want to know what became of those geese?" relief. continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. more solid." the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding papers diligently of late, have you not?" Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I