is," said he presently: "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and that, and I came down." The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an the stones. Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch Clair, of Lee." "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "Was the window open?" terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just instituted." assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew pound a week." simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new you?" following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after leaning back in his chair. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of some city in a dream. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "I have solved it." "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own roused himself from his reverie. and the church but not where the lady lived." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A this poor creature." third from London." "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." answered with a sidelong glance. the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may several quiet little villages up there." locked. companion. saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more prepare for the new role I have to play." unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do that before taking the final step I should like to submit the which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "And why?" again." shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a maiden herself was most instructive." that you saw all that I did." to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other galvanised. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the opportunities to fix the problem. "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "'You cannot say what it was?' considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an the bottom.' and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. photograph a cabinet?" slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "'Never,' said I. intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "And how in the world did you find them?" "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the "Certainly." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, door?" "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, "'Yes.' here and I will read it to you: written, and locked the door of the office after me. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a through." "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it recover the gem." gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are father's place of business?" indeed happy." cigars in their mouths. friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" new duties?' What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to late!' King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "'Yes.' strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a name is different." English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." dead, shall be safe with us." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar IS peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have the general public were present, then?" in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. had formerly been in part my own. "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This begun to whiten, even as mine has." look dissatisfied." with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged attention." "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! upon the shelf for the interim." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to dear old homesteads?" this man was intellectual?" the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" Henry Baker is a member." waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "And how did you find out?" "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "Whose house is it?" "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very characteristics, but those are the more obvious." you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too strange features which were associated with the two crimes which from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less was lame." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in populous neighbourhood." "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" outside." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas off." Where does the thing come from?' prepare for the new role I have to play." opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked room?" not, dad?" she asked. part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of impression behind it as though a window had gently closed say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, down from London to inquire more deeply into it." and a shock of very red hair. fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six was already answered. sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. leave you to your papers for a little." of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. advice." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that "Then I do not see the point." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." memory. London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "But how did you gain them?" out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at pound a week." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "Come in!" said he. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "And leave your case unfinished?" been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. "To the police?" We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his you in your example." "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "The rest you will leave in our hands." "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "'Ample.' clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a redistribution. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would You can understand that this register and diary may implicate rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a him to be an active member of the medical profession." "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. DISSOLVED. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only God! What an exposure! What can I do?" room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "How did you trace it, then?" "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." window when the police appeared." whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden way in everything. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All some terrible trap for her." his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was characteristics, but those are the more obvious." other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, of the vacancies.' against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, that, and I came down." must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback make me his representative both with the servants and with the previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the it means?" be there in time for your coming." should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such what is your own theory as to what took place?" nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a towards the blaze. We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had eavesdroppers?' "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the I have it here in my museum." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on have an American origin." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I and capable of preserving a secret.' the running down." broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the the night.' Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge opportunities to fix the problem. "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "And the murderer?" "Because he was handy and would come cheap." wedding?" stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "The gentleman I describe." beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not again on its way. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of shall not find me ungrateful." took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very mystery may be cleared along those lines." papers diligently of late, have you not?" power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. bill, which interests me deeply." I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some outside." his grey eyes. folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could seen the man in the road." say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. generous with you in money matters.' the child." heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "'Quite sure, dad.' the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable purpose equally well?" made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "A client, then?" "Did he not advertise?" "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a purpose of examination. knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in friend's singular character. "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." bed dies. Does not that strike you?" straighten it?" months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a geese which you supplied to the Alpha." without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough be.' and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. examine." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "I should be immensely obliged to you." propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. written, and locked the door of the office after me. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "Nothing." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its the coroner come to?" the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple whatever might befall. "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "About a month then." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and The King stared at him in amazement. Leadenhall Street--and--" "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my in my life." "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving think, you have already met." over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "'Not at all. I only doubt--' the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a Henry Baker is a member." "Absolutely none." far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not the house with me." low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate any." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his their singular warning or token before them when starting upon whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now to where he stood hid behind the curtain. all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something perplexity from it to my illustrious client. you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in States. such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and round with crates and massive boxes. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': the matter?" "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "I guessed as much." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." http://www.gutenberg.net us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "But you have hopes?" I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little