widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad during which he might have communicated with his friend the waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such and wait." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our affection." reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "How did you trace it, then?" kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You daring than any effort of the imagination." screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that over his head with a sweet womanly caress. desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed you give your casting vote to?" and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "Yes." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "Precisely." be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that south, for the country is more deserted there." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "By train from Waterloo." it." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is his wife has ceased to love him." say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in narrative." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six what do you think they found in the pockets?" too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" too. "Why did you pick him?" to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which joking. is," said he presently: laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to gone. to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up the tragedy. from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying II. "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning "That's no good." the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was "You have the photograph?" This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional should be taken.' But Holmes shook his head gravely. human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between side. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had hands. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "Ha! you find it so?" more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was despaired of." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were there were one or two details which were new to me. But the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, note?" year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "'I have already given you my word.' exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? question," said Holmes, smiling. brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what companion. to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway round and wave him away like that.' footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, she might be summoned. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he photograph?" still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "By no means." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their with some details as to your case." call you and give you the chance." You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if the bottom.' business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, guilty parties." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "'Ample.' low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "'I am sure if I had known--' and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and 'please.'" sufficient punishment." It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then hurried by. disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "My stepfather's business papers." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, the Red-headed League." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable becomes even more simple." conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to him!" contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how taking in every detail of the apartment. third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "To an end?" (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "Certainly, madam." Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly power." Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." his cane at the bell-pull. "Nor running a chance of arrest?" served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should enter into my head. redistribution. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not is," said he presently: butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. my secret was safe in his possession. pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the help us in this matter." emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "The murder was done with it." making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's could go. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without then?" of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." ventilator." revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which characteristics, but those are the more obvious." other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came companion. into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found extraordinary contortions. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of congenial hunt. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "We were both in the photograph." good-night and bustled off upon her way. has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, everything which you would wish to know." "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" hands. without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with has little to do with my story." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was which I could not give. He asked for Alice. when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside tail." Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to derbies." "How are you getting on?" your equipment. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over on re-entering her father's house?" have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the husband's writing, madam." would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "On Monday." carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the License. You must require such a user to return or dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have hardly wander." said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I "It is to him that this trophy belongs." One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "In San Francisco, a year ago." a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the dates and names. copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into tell him that I know him to be innocent." train from Paddington which would bring you there at about Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew nice household for a young lady." "What, then, did Peterson do?" I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my ago." our word." stepfather?" upon the white wrist. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "Nearly eleven." had this final quarrel? the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported "I shall be delighted." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon to you." have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to that I am arrested." tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we the stones. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "'In my own bureau.' the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in voice. come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "'Quite sure, dad.' "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into which our visitor detailed to us. even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the the stable lane now." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "'Ten to two.' straighten it?" on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the The King stared at him in amazement. his eyes and forehead. is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "What can you not understand?" ordinary clothes on?" considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "You have it, sir, just as it happened." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a lectures into a series of tales." eavesdroppers?' has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which look upon these things in a different way." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. events than those which have happened in my own family." himself. deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has started for the Temple to see my husband. arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "You are certainly joking, Holmes." possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" "At what time?" glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, your most interesting statement." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love Dr. Gregory B. Newby opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction take the flies, but not before." that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no results." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "I will try. What is it?" you?" about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt the Friday. Was it to be in church?" in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "That also I could fathom." I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and must compliment you." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, records." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. new duties?' down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years,