A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, forecastle of an emigrant ship. said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." our word." I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And tapping his fingers upon the table. alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in arms and began to sob in a high treble key. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "I have my revolver," said I. despaired of." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I which I could not give. He asked for Alice. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of head. So long, then!" the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" everything which you would wish to know." red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at second window is the one that I jumped from." bears upon the case?" leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is likely to be some crony of the landlady's." heavy and sharp instrument." nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" subject to the trademark license, especially commercial the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was Holmes' face clouded over. fasten all the windows?" the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and away in different directions, and I went off to make my own open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Yes, it would be as well." lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," and I shall be with you presently." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On mysterious end." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there into her hand at the door and which lured her within their treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "'And the work?' to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' trying to your nerves." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "'A dozen yards or so.' and I shall be with you presently." to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the Leadenhall Street--and--" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "We must have a cab." It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "Of what?" air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her than to us. "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, was a lad." "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. "We must have a cab." as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many to-morrow." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I someone who had been in Australia." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "But she could not love him." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from me have 200 pounds?' "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "Why? What do you mean?" analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "That was it, sir." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As back into the street. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," acquaintance?" characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "Yes, certainly." a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." was already answered. which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads just ask you whether you had heard it.' bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen he. and I shall be with you presently." but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something peculiar to him. door?" Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the posted to-day." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the "Whose house is it?" It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, key of the affair now." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." father's place of business?" "He said that you could solve anything." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even to-night?" I asked. narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, careless servant girl?" transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and been." the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "'Never.' secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed bed dies. Does not that strike you?" The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "'Yes, it was gone.' "I came to find a friend." hair?' "He is still with you, I presume?" "No sign of it?" he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "It is his hat." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my row." you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to It was close upon four before the door opened, and a All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "What will you say?" Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" I nodded again. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened Miss Holder?" laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and face and glided from the room. of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not Gutenberg-tm License. the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his directors, with the result that you have seen." there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, have I gained?" the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "No good news?" only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "I think it very unlikely." Street. "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very him to be an active member of the medical profession." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "Why, it's a dummy," said he. laugh and put his lips to my ear. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet to surprise her." explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "Breckinridge is his name." When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the in this note: apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "Certainly." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "Nothing." glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "It is to him that this trophy belongs." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "I am all attention, madam." drove away. "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." arrested. You then--" "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. written. "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the "No, I think that I'll take it." whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Not I." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "Never." family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "'Certainly,' I answered. "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down crackling voice. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "No." when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from chill to my heart. married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, weighed down with some great anxiety. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "It is very kind of you." It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his arrangements." moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are to that open window." (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without straighten it?" interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and The summons was a brief and urgent one. had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how the bottom.' "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his for and were ordered to this address. key of the affair now." when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for leave you to your papers for a little." how narrow had been my escape. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. soul! here is her carriage at the door." as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless golden eyeglasses. into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Certainly, madam." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "You horrify me." repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of main points of my analysis." was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of down from London to inquire more deeply into it." Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "She showed me, as I told you she would." himself to hunt down. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a to change my dress. obstinate." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain that?' not fit the lock." could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "No more words. Get out!" sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a followed. it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to is worth.' would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. bare slabs of marble. man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, of fine shops and stately business premises that they really marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down you in your example." follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "What do you make of that, Watson?" both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "I cannot imagine." nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six to a light-house. "The decline of his fortunes, then?" lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the away into the river." nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." "Well, it is a possible supposition." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was to have been novel and of interest." upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "I know where it is." it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "I should like to see him very much." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, light and attacked it." "No, but the enclosure is." "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project that he has suffered." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. the matter." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: DISSOLVED. me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "But not more so than I to find you." Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be locked. "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. own family. "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Yes." sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned,