I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through train.' "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the up this clue while it is still hot." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "None." King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we all-comprehensive glances. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "My Mary? Impossible!" little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you to change my dress. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered it." "If I can be of use." as this. Pray let me have the details." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it just called myself is not exactly my own." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the appointment with me for six o'clock?" can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "Could he throw no light?" desk. crime. "I will not look." "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "But he might be a bachelor." laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never new duties?' have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the was a loud and authoritative tap. you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "But how did you gain them?" always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "He said that you could solve anything." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich returning from some small jollification and was making his way "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a success. surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and chambers. "And what then?" long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "You did not overhear what they said?" "Here?" "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H rose-bushes. father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked see me here to avoid scandal." bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear about. "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had the ceiling. perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, trying to your nerves." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the to tell." floor. quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them and laid it on the table. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "A client, then?" and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King case before our client came into the room." heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very chamber." has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." made him keep the appointment." 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." October 9, 1890. "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly Holmes. congenial hunt. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "You were travelling in the States?" of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, kindly on the shoulder. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "By no means." "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the has little to do with my story." society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "Nothing?" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay results." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's frequently gained my first real insight into the character of endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry been." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the been lifted and conveyed somewhere." comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "But how?" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all retorted upon me, and I on you." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up a monotonous occupation." particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "She walked into the breakfast-room." kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "I fear not." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in never to learn it at all." He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "It was." was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "By no means." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. this poor creature." "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "Yes." At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "But I am all in the dark." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "'I am sure that I do not know.' his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless have accepted such a situation. threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. not, dad?" she asked. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the directly by questioning you." daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "Well, some hundreds of times." that threaten you." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's upon the sideboard." "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, keep the flames under. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which congenial hunt. "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord and files of the old papers, following the future career of every understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, Dr. Gregory B. Newby that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The intrusion of other matters." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "'Certainly not.' anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "What, then?" across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Pray do so." maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard it." process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they was keenly on my guard against him. through." "He is dead," cried several voices. "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, it with his own hands." shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was and your relations to her." figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" present." "9th. McCauley cleared. and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "Precisely so. But how--" house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. "That's no good." "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, the matter." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." annoyance, but no jest. "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of his face. "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate States. connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your most interesting one." again before evening." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from during which he might have communicated with his friend the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "How often?" Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband written. bearing upon the case." hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "'Quite sure, dad.' after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There "But who is he?" "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "Yesterday." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It depend upon my doing so.' follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up upon the white wrist. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "You think so, too?" way in everything. "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "At the wedding breakfast." exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Where, then?" mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of business?" to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which business in the City. She little knew what. story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it him. indiscretion." hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "Witness: Nothing definite. Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it of your young ladies.' afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the formed some opinion?" "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the frequently gained my first real insight into the character of Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a nonsense.' Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the the driver. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the or other trace. But how on earth--" "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "Was he the only applicant?" correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "He disappeared so suddenly." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "To ruin me." gentleman's clothes. "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little been with you?" never came back." pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "'You doubt its value?' he asked. suddenly upon us." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried closely." opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding all?" through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Is he quiet?" six. Come in!" third from London." people in all walks of life. "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in and shall probably return to London by the evening train." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of here." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Stolen, then." inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss woven round him. relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "Then, how do you know?" education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be States. a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have gone. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "Your sister is dead, then?" surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was meanly of me."