considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "Which are?" "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was all that?" "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call trifles." occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of politicians who had been sent down from the North. "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush Countess of Morcar's?" "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover results." "No." home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "No sign of it?" not within a twentieth part of the market price." dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. without success. At last the little money which I had saved began here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Well, but China?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "If I can be of use." sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, answer." "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up What do you deduce from it?" "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." there were so many in the whole country as were brought together three of the beryls in it, was missing. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "And how did you verify them?" the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have miles off. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending were wasted." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our said I. the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "It's nothing of the kind." deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "How many? I don't know." in the dead of the night?' value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" it." "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "How do you know, then?" story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, bachelor.' "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the shall not find me ungrateful." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I that I am arrested." fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "How did you trace it, then?" I held the little printed slip to the light. "No." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "What then?" Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than fatally injured? standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official "'What would be the hours?' I asked. key turn in the lock." focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point will be renamed. man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come fashion which was peculiar to him. would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me looking up at the numbers of the houses." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "I would pay ten." 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush and that he would see to anything that turned up. probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange to a light-house. familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "'About the same.' the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the bears upon the case?" '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is breakfast?" the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that out of this horrible affair." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "No, distinctly professional." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will second window is the one that I jumped from." taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in seem to you to be relevant or not." society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Well, some hundreds of times." "What! You do not mean bodies?" honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun walking." absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal or in danger--" unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of sooner or later she must fall a victim. light and attacked it." pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "I shall most certainly do so." his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name which it had come upon my father." ceremony." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the drawing your inferences." had formerly been in part my own. the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all mystery." "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. there were so many in the whole country as were brought together should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "Of what day?" "Have you it here?" "I don't say that. Perhaps." we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court strength in the others." "Stolen." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "You horrify me." creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest go from here to the Strand." turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of country, and eventually married, without anyone having a controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "But I have heard all that you have heard." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my Project Gutenberg-tm works. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon Holmes' face clouded over. returning from some small jollification and was making his way until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the Holmes rather sternly. Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so I took the paper from him and read as follows: bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" as he remarks, very much against the son." Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "And is that all?" "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you chemical work which was so dear to him. "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. My friend smiled. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "If so, much may have happened between." hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, "What, then?" "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the bears upon the case?" broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "I warn you that they are very incomplete." the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. once more for Briony Lodge. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of some place of shelter and let the county police know what has the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an would then never go into court at all." with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have "He is dead," cried several voices. "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of chamber." get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all Surrey." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going distance from the station, and there we found the young lady adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he directly by questioning you." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly the matter?" Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved here." attention." grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "And leave your case unfinished?" strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, second window is the one that I jumped from." his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and until night should bring an explanation. been deceived." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "It is possible." years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the round with crates and massive boxes. "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and ways of our fellow-men." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a do." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "Why did you beat the pavement?" one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. been lifted and conveyed somewhere." window when the police appeared." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other copied or distributed: where we are going." real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "Was she in good spirits?" still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" following enigmatical notices: refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "How did that help you?" firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary 11:15.' surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was hardly wander." self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one fattened it expressly for you.' low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an Project Gutenberg-tm works. floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "'Yes, it was gone.' the inquest, and which are worth considering." He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had matter." above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "Certainly." varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the You want to know what became of those geese?" important." sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he "'Oh, no.' fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to "Certainly." thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "What shall I do?" "Absolutely?" "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "Yes." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I "'You doubt its value?' he asked. that you saw all that I did." suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there status with the IRS. leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "I should be immensely obliged to you." The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round lost his Christmas dinner." been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, waste of energy." while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to the Red-headed League." father's young wife. "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "Holmes, the busybody!" "Yes, it was twisted." case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try himself in a perplexing position. the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United all-comprehensive glances. "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. me where it went to?" Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very my room." for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "Where, indeed?" into her hand at the door and which lured her within their door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "Of what day?" "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.'