hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "I am about to be married." this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that McCarthy's innocence. the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle the coronet in his hands?" that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we there were so many in the whole country as were brought together Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "How did he come?" these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge Holmes' thin, eager face. that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "What! a murderous attack?" arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face assist you in forming an opinion." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "Whose house is it?" "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. been shamefully used." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be arms and began to sob in a high treble key. consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of derbies." little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "It must be recovered." "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the the general public were present, then?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I with some details as to your case." which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed south, for the country is more deserted there." has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "Then how many are there?" The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of spare." world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." Munro.' present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the south, for the country is more deserted there." most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most how narrow had been my escape. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is in your London, you will know that the office of the company is to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the and files of the old papers, following the future career of every Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to opportunities to fix the problem. results." The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round outside. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened o'clock is it?" grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "'What then?' I asked. them, and came down just as you departed. he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it "Very truly yours, Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your will he say when he returns?" "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any works. See paragraph 1.E below. Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" I held the little printed slip to the light. the Assizes." "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit key turn in the lock." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill knowledge of the world." "Certainly, madam." come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I companion imperturbably. "'Stolen!' he cried. my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the client, rising. really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "Dr. Becher's." "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a lost nothing by them." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with of the way of danger. and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their problems help me to do so." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. for its centre. "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head read over the extraordinary announcement. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "'And what are they worth?' I asked. very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its it right.' derbies." his cane at the bell-pull. Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to the room while you explain this matter?" Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "It is solved." "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "Stolen, then." groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "I will get her to show me." his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? I approached. round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things leaning back in his chair. "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter strength." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and "Dr. Becher's." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he very old mansion. distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was are, I think, all that we need." "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" amused." Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, sparkled upon his finger. the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR you do it in twenty minutes!' one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' certainly not very gracious." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Yes." and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The "I should be immensely obliged to you." "But what harm can there be in that?" used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the wall." What do you deduce from it?" Have you good authority for what you say?" sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "But his lameness?" own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly with you?" "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a sentimental considerations in the background which would induce money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if true." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in are, and they are waiting for us." business at Coburg Square is serious." great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Holmes, the busybody!" him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, ventilator." "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if that I can to serve you." you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "Very much so." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my them, and came down just as you departed. during that time.' "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from me." He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning perplexity from it to my illustrious client. in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have a very grave face. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to of the way of danger. himself in a perplexing position. incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "'Where could I find him?' "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss drawing your inferences." he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as the very morning of the wedding." found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For infinite languor in his face. astonishment. loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled Lestrade of Scotland Yard." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "Bought." "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, could go. "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he how narrow had been my escape. "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so address. elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a again." there." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the the iron safe, which he closed upon it. case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that not use it unless it is absolutely needed." the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." quick march!" upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the instincts rose up against that laugh. Project Gutenberg-tm works. very morning of my second wedding." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you will he say when he returns?" "It is very kind of you." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "Yes, that is the Crown." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "Why? What do you mean?" "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim the very letters. But what is this written above them?' confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" forebodings. "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "I cannot think." "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down "'I am sure if I had known--' conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "From his hat?" were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the door?" his huge brown hands. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which him. receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "I say it is." low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if when you have done it." half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my suspect him." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes papers on the sundial.'" DISSOLVED. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary Literary Archive Foundation Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His "'Yes, it was gone.' "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so gentleman's clothes. too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." is now desirous of getting those letters back." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As Gutenberg-tm License. good-night and bustled off upon her way. "Two days later this same performance was gone through under the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "'There is a drive, then?' invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "In which, sir?" "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole 1.F. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "Why, it's a dummy," said he. pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already "I was mad--insane." "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since