one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." persecution?" you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He you." walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for standing smiling on the door-step. "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "But how?" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and "None." with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you advice." and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; article?" of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the really the only notable feature about the thing." Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "A greater distance to travel." "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening murdered man." with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a the stones. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "But how did you gain them?" knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with "You were travelling in the States?" time." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of unprofitable." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to not use it unless it is absolutely needed." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "And it is--" he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "I have a cab outside." by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "You heard nothing yourself last night?" have an American origin." conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "Yes, he did." even so self-evident a thing as that." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the wanted for ourselves." have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he south, for the country is more deserted there." the Friday. Was it to be in church?" It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth father's young wife. possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the "'Where could I find him?' without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "What shall I do?" character. "The knees of his trousers." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might once more for Briony Lodge. "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "What! Had he lost his wife?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "Not in the least." so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is public press." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the one of them." sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what so far?" them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found nights." wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It sound at heart." DAMAGE. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "Have you it here?" grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "Pray continue your narrative." upon the sideboard." "Why did you pick him?" "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business breakfast." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst or in danger--" empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Precisely so. But how--" Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was down in his armchair and closing his eyes. spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove little adventures." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "The vanishing of the lady." he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you "I answered that I had not. "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage people don't know." It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources be best to do. side. "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just and the whole place is in a blaze." salesman. other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for DAMAGE. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which there." eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a behind me. the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "Why did you beat the pavement?" the roots. "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." our word." the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "'Is purely nominal.' Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. that the gas is not laid on in his house?" to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. Surrey." which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Stoke Moran?" said he. distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered handed it to him. "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "What will you do, then?" client, rising. India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself is so. I know all about McCarthy." With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in giving me time to thank him. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a events, Mr. Windibank!" finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I trying to your nerves." my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, extraordinary contortions. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "When did she vanish, then?" "I see no marks." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend of Mr. Rucastle's." outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from breakfast?" "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of "If so, much may have happened between." the night.' "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, me upon any point which I do not make clear." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter happened." The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "I shall be delighted." derbies." few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you this remarkable episode. "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" to change my dress. "But what harm can there be in that?" "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I note?" was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As details." Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "No." "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the the coronet in his hands?" what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations the devil!" desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "It came here." here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your "Which are?" she used." "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added putting in the horse. "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every it." in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "Certainly." upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "Tired-looking or fresh?" "I see many objections to any such theory." thirty. action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could Countess of Morcar's?" observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the is four-and-twenty." dramatic, in fact." and laid it on the table. "I shall be delighted." "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "'And what are they worth?' I asked. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am might have a private word with us. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running during which he might have communicated with his friend the "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." as noiselessly as she had come. believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I "I beg pardon." "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "Here?" opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this your only hope of safety." sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If this Miss Turner." "And Irene Adler?" Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, her also." especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "Pray let us have it, for all that." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "'What would be the hours?' I asked. time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he "Really! You surprise me." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I II. King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "I fear not." tell me that you intended to go into harness." lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, him to be an active member of the medical profession." McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "So I heard. You have him here?" foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. success. English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." one's self under obligations.' "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a ways of our fellow-men." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "I think it very unlikely." "'Very good.' faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little disappearance of the bride.'" successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the present strange and interesting features that it is no easy opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of Does that suggest anything?" The King stared at him in amazement. said I. absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official Watson," he said cordially. is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "No." among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary said I. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. crime. "'Never.' him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by as this. Pray let me have the details." also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "On your arm?" At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "Look there!" said he. Sholtos." one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': father's place of business?" about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for fasten all the windows?" A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still help us in this matter." "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. from you?" noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." only touch the interest." have an American origin." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady into the bag, and made for the door. very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For Holmes' room. was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your