"Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them "You have the photograph?" rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got which should have the effect of calling the attention of the cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, will he say when he returns?" them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had minor matters until to-morrow." "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob national property. I was determined that the law should have its of the way of danger. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the goes." matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. the nursery. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "'You cannot say what it was?' It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from husband's writing, madam." "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker the ceiling. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed hair?' until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. arrangements." hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer desk. "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" such attractions and accomplishments?' Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same shaken than I had ever seen him. centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the which I could not give. He asked for Alice. With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." the coroner come to?" elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. in his power. her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "Yes, sir." the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that public press." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an British peeress.'" evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had gives a meaning to it." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal strength." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "How are you getting on?" The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the is so. I know all about McCarthy." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits which we had just quitted. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's dear old homesteads?" Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be nice household for a young lady." "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." absorbing." but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was kind enough to tell me what I should do." hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "You were travelling in the States?" married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "Witness: I must still refuse. centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that you?' To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "'Yes, sir.' for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "But I am all in the dark." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning to his chemical studies. A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way business in the City. She little knew what. age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must detained." of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very have had none more fantastic than this." approach us with offers to donate. upon a handsome competence. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly were new raised from a basin. our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." the Assizes." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. instincts rose up against that laugh. bill, which interests me deeply." Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some crime." of." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss lips." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "How did he come?" me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and "'Yes.' of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg States. Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger pressing in one house as in another. happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come Young McCarthy must be got off, however." face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "And it is--" more terrible than the truth. her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did have got?" creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "But we can't all be." And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off compunction about shooting them down." "'Stolen!' he cried. down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged neither fascinating nor artistic." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "But you can know nothing of this?" how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "An accident, I presume?" "It goes to the housekeeper's room." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. which are rolled in Rotterdam." seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, your equipment. from the brougham. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "My photograph." "What of the rat, then?" but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' pierced for earrings?" Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. despair." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away been lifted and conveyed somewhere." of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, have I gained?" hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Well, but China?" room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. lumber-room." villagers almost as much as their master. so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every take the flies, but not before." "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I spark where all is dark to me." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or morning." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre noble correspondent could be. Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "My Mary? Impossible!" the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he "Entirely." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want at my own good fortune. "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do other, as fresh and trim as possible. I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the tell me that you intended to go into harness." I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair individual and becomes the badge of a society." to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream silent! Oh, he will be silent!' feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "I am armed." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' Holmes' room. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed that he has suffered." "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the "You think that he is dead?" into the bag, and made for the door. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to "It is to him that this trophy belongs." house for five minutes.' fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on seem to you to be relevant or not." immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute Eyford at 11:15.' you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you sufficient punishment." in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "Here?" "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" of the one which your family is now devouring." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to "You have compromised yourself seriously." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "I cannot imagine." hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Dirty?" every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, footfalls from the street. uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. the running down." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by written, and locked the door of the office after me. of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "Where, indeed?" "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in down in his armchair and closing his eyes. that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "But we can't all be." "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For against a man in the prime of life?" "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I cannot tell." The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "How about poison?" first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." be. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there fashion which was peculiar to him. possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "But how?" with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic within hail.' whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case memory. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for unprecedented a position." recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. one of the states of the Union." cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her to change my dress. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H impression behind it as though a window had gently closed American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking the running down." you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' mysterious end." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," said he at last. star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you colour had been driven from his face. Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it whereabouts. matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk at home. propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "I was certainly surprised to find you there." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been rose-bushes. never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been "It is his hat." they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's asked with his eyes open. leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. been with you?" sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he was keenly on my guard against him.