then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' becomes even more simple." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from Sholtos." of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom think that he is innocent?" "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "Then he might have called to you?" Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "I think that it is very probable." opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a will be renamed. analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from about here speaks of his kindness to him." must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "You were travelling in the States?" her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." take the flies, but not before." he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." with her." "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two morning." six. Come in!" loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "That is unusual in a young girl." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose away to you." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that existence." "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "And I." "Certainly." dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between them present such singular features as the strange train of said I. interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always sit on the left-hand side of the driver." even of instruction." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and golden eyeglasses. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "A thing like a cleaver," said he. sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the gentleman's clothes. been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "Always." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "Have you her photograph?" him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for "Yes, he did." a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He father's young wife. be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall to have been novel and of interest." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the locked. "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the for securing the situation." whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than again, where I was soon asleep. abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "We have tried and failed." "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering plantation.' outsides of the windows. "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be said I. was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and is acting for the best. answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more the night.' desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, fact, we may call it conclusive." "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a "Yes, that is the Crown." The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "No." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw because she had spent so short a time in this country that she appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" extraordinary contortions. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the salesman. the inquest, and which are worth considering." instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "Why? What do you mean?" about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which she to prove their authenticity?" either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "'As governess?' zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. confronted him. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all that?' "You forget that I know nothing about it." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers jewels which you have stolen?' whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. outside. to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy or other trace. But how on earth--" age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, results." certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable "It must be recovered." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down directors have had misgivings upon the subject." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." 11:15.' very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. direction." dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So his huge brown hands. family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and burst into a hearty fit of laughter. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "A client, then?" gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave floor. gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far o'clock is it?" "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us at once, for I have only half an hour." "To ruin me." garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously it." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. way: I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the and it need not interfere very much with one's other defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "But your client--" companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty right! Sit down and let us talk it over." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as "'Quite sure, dad.' distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "'Where could I find him?' "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "Tired-looking or fresh?" dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "By train from Waterloo." in a friendly supper." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "Could he throw no light?" the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large call it cruel." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns "Eh? What was that?" rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "Of what?" me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out manager. "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of himself to tell his story. "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my directly by questioning you." the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to not within a twentieth part of the market price." brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "What then?" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was anything to a woman, for she would have her way." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of in this note: "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from His smile broadened. to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business his face which made him a very different person to the round, manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last wedding?" "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." companion. intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of "I think that it is very probable." affair. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from opportunities to fix the problem. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had not interfere, come what may. You understand?" her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, "I see no marks." again before evening." "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which about. not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. him to go away.' butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I for its centre. "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" and it need not interfere very much with one's other imbecility!" he cried. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "That sounds a little paradoxical." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "Witness: Nothing definite. save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. within hail.' submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "At what time?" know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it to-morrow." stood on the top of it. the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" locked. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "'Very good.' "But you were on a friendly footing?" his cane at the bell-pull. leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a least a most suspicious remark." carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm the tragedy. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "Absolutely none." What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "My opinion is in no way altered." them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, unclasping of his long thin hands. shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "Nearly eleven." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, him, that man would not have given me such complete information She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "But how will you look?" ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as peculiar to him. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day hurried by. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "You are all wrong." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project empty. and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." Gutenberg-tm License. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few hereditary King of Bohemia." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked.