the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "How often?" "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided forebodings. step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "But who is he?" "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "Perhaps I have." "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that strode off upon his way. "And I." that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "Yes, all." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Well." woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable nonsense.' goes." received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You stammered. as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "But what harm can there be in that?" "But to whom?" standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "And what did you see?" my room." have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the there when the Rucastles went away." "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "An accident, I presume?" happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his to you." habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "To an English lawyer named Norton." matter over." mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "I will get her to show me." I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "I am all attention, madam." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a "I am all attention, madam." pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "His face fell immediately. waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. your own bird, so if you wish--" "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. bedroom door." is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could outsides of the windows. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "How can you tell that?" It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "Very. But will he see it?" flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "In San Francisco, a year ago." watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Perhaps I have." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "That is it on the dressing-table." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main "Why serious?" brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "But he might be a bachelor." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having all that?" "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the galvanised. look dissatisfied." most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I cigars in the box." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." the little opening for the ventilator is." overpowering excitement and concern. discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to of fine shops and stately business premises that they really wall." gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I felt the room to be a little close.' which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in gives a meaning to it." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "VIOLET HUNTER." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, weapon." "I cannot think." children over to America with him, so that I found myself without "I should wish to." machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "Witness: I must still refuse. heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place what is your own theory as to what took place?" "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless seven miles from Eyford Station.' have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a case before our client came into the room." from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "But who is he?" "And what did you see?" Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "Who by?" like gravel from a pit.' entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel absolutely follow my advice in every respect." the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in more solid." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked page at http://pglaf.org Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the this Miss Turner." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my his fortune, and I went back to pa. Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he and prosperity to your house. Good-night." girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "What then?" "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that made his money." observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in results." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Seven!" I answered. my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Munro.' "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, you?' "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "I think that I had better go, Holmes." seen the man in the road." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, three fields round his house, and there he would take his his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it did not hear it also.' upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. call you and give you the chance." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid roused himself from his reverie. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may at home. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property conceal it?" story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be papers diligently of late, have you not?" "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' rooms." "Yes." He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "This concluded the examination of the witness." this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "Yes." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. jewels which you have stolen?' bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a bare slabs of marble. watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. always that they were such commands as a lady might with little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both DISSOLVED. throat." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "You saw the ventilator, too?" connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case father's place of business?" "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade that you can jump it.' There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "I cannot imagine." to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "But his left-handedness." Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the thirty. One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. careless servant girl?" dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "'Stolen!' he cried. "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "She will not sell." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis and laid it on the table. the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear wedding?" "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the the address that was given us in the advertisement. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a secret." endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "None." heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Dr. Becher's." Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just "Then how many are there?" license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "By no means." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The be sorry for having acted so harshly." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It your own bird, so if you wish--" soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "Did your wife hear all this?" greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "Deserted you?" product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great relation between them, and what the object of his repeated hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "It was a confession," I ejaculated. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the too. was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk spark where all is dark to me." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his asked. "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Texas, I think." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran gbnewby@pglaf.org his forehead." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "It may not come to that," said Holmes. will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a is worth.' gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' ourselves in the office." next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of out of this horrible affair." "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of formed some opinion?" know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he heavily into it. "What!" he roared. once more. vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for its centre. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the During two years I have had three consultations and one small "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united and files of the old papers, following the future career of every the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "'How far from the body?' figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic