that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "What, then, did Peterson do?" "And now?" I asked. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been I shall continue with my miserable story. of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, tightly behind him. "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building of them has the shutters up.' branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "In which, sir?" I was concerned in it." subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it his huge brown hands. "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it colonel looking down at me. "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, some terrible trap for her." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "And help." on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Why, what do you mean?" his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he if only as a check to my own memory." I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an brought there to personate someone, and the real person is thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the strode off upon his way. introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "So it appears." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "I was certainly surprised to find you there." once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I hand, madam?" "I am about to be married." to take care of herself." his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. here and I will read it to you: will find little credit to be gained out of this case." have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "It was." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and This is what he says: "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "Perhaps I have." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three British peeress.'" with frightened eyes at his accuser. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. not fit the lock." all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "The doctor?" lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, Pope's Court. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. crackling voice. copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy "Witness: It was. "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in upon the white wrist. of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying more terrible than the truth. said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in Mary, has deserted me." when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "'Never.' across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "He said too much." because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the Munro.' mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see bill, which interests me deeply." really the only notable feature about the thing." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "It is solved." made him keep the appointment." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any possible that we could bring him back to her? out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of giving me time to thank him. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. "And why?" "And how in the world did you find them?" "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" cause to be." the date of his supposed suicide." Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the King without delay." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. to his chemical studies. mystery may be cleared along those lines." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and held up the lantern and gazed about him. Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "It came here." indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "I am still in the dark." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "I am still in the dark." "What!" he roared. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. back alive. "We have tried and failed." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work bears upon the case?" yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." he died? kind enough to tell me what I should do." inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." pierced for earrings?" stood on the top of it. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "'Yes, sir.' do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. shadow pass over his face as I spoke. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen against a man in the prime of life?" outbreak?" "He might." arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to results." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream the armchair which I pushed forward for him. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about made his money." The summons was a brief and urgent one. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the ago." "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "Pray let us have it, for all that." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow conceal it?" Project Gutenberg-tm works. was not a bird to be seen there. "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. will not take me long to tell. the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet outbreak?" the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. I nodded to show that I had heard. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we "You have compromised yourself seriously." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so Dr. Gregory B. Newby upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with three fields round his house, and there he would take his already referred to. "Nearly eleven." upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "What then?" tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "BALLARAT." stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us "The murder was done with it." in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "I cannot imagine." mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. "She told me to ask you." This is what he says: or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "It is his hat." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are that, and I came down." the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess little adventures." appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a vault. Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the that "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. way in everything. a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "I fear not." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "And that is--" pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged spare." believe that I should never have any practice at all. seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day again, where I was soon asleep. I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "I answered that I had not. fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a back into the street. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom shoulder; "he's all right." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "9th. McCauley cleared. This is what he says: on in his house." of it with the greatest attention. bedroom door." "But the mystery?" graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a very morning of my second wedding." of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he "Nothing?" and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far me have 200 pounds?' so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I persecution?" "She told me to ask you." License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "It certainly sounds feasible." would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the affair. help us in this matter." closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and joking. "Why, what do you mean?" at once, for I have only half an hour." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the head. So long, then!" "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "My stepfather's business papers." rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a ways of our fellow-men." aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." himself to tell his story. from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of back to my heart. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "'A dozen yards or so.' him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." orange pips. "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence information in his hands the value of which he did not himself when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box drawing your inferences." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "At half-wages, in fact." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end "'Where could I find him?' seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "And I to find an enemy." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your despair." into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in During two years I have had three consultations and one small unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My a few minutes he said that it would be all right. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change "Married! When?" appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the and a shock of very red hair. creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "No, my brougham is waiting." upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural you." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to weary and pale-looking. questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though of the way of danger. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "What is it, then--a fire?" his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Pray tell us what has happened to you." three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her case before our client came into the room." the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on