"He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me down in his armchair and closing his eyes. his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I "'Then let me do so?' "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger man. I know him from the photograph." turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough you in yours." read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks meanly of me." "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his that?' "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must advice." suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some golden eyeglasses. occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "By train from Waterloo." "Whose house is it?" "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." were new raised from a basin. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with nothing of it?" we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of your co-operation." outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's "I should be immensely obliged to you." "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and hopeless attempt at recovering them." It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the cigar and let me expound." away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his you for a few hours?" "'Ten to two.' the little opening for the ventilator is." "About a month then." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "And how in the world did you find them?" Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "You saw the ventilator, too?" tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "Ah!" weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he been deceived." sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "'Tell me all about it,' said I. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was James Windibank. Voilà tout!" suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us morning." the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last whatever might befall. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible into her hand at the door and which lured her within their saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or national property. I was determined that the law should have its That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not the King without delay." "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing in your London, you will know that the office of the company is you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "I cannot say that I have." now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very behind me. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our you want, then?' "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "That is it on the dressing-table." "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was there is a decided draught." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "But his lameness?" expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an nights." scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I mysterious end." "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, light and attacked it." This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "The Cedars?" stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked never will be, entirely cleared up. exactly what you advise." Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "'And the work?' furiously. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now he died? "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "I don't say that. Perhaps." "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he which are rolled in Rotterdam." believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "Of what?" "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there I held the little printed slip to the light. seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. question," said Holmes, smiling. practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." as he folded up the epistle. better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow opened the door, and slipped through. you want, then?' had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to recall any case within my experience which looked at the first in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. fire. You quite follow me?" the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need you found me to-night--and running through the front room she prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' other means.' these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself vault. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "That is unusual in a young girl." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that some mystery and the punishment of some crime." and the whole place is in a blaze." public press." providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside colonel looking down at me. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact it." "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his carriage. It was a chestnut." fasten all the windows?" window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New words came to my lips. "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "But she will refuse." to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' himself to hunt down. introspective fashion. fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that "The Coroner: What do you mean? my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "None." elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "'Which dealer's?' them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of me upon any point which I do not make clear." destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys what is your own theory as to what took place?" the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, skylight. heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. Watson," he said cordially. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." sentimental considerations in the background which would induce slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "We were both in the photograph." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. not within a twentieth part of the market price." hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were to-night." over with notes and figures. perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The sufficient punishment." was not a bird to be seen there. "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his you." which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, are, and they are waiting for us." possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily asked. you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of pound a week." As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before stood on the top of it. "It is very clear." "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I guilty one." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs salesman. that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a used to be." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." there has been an enclosure here!" It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it annoyance, but no jest. "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief new acquaintance to Baker Street. hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Did you observe the colour?" rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been there was no need for father to know." Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "One of his hands." and your relations to her." comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand Does that suggest anything?" and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "One of his hands." wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "I have come for advice." handed it to him. evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "And sit in the dark?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Precisely so. But how--" remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to people in all walks of life. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." might have a private word with us. could go. "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. deduce something from that?" without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. all-comprehensive glances. "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are one of the states of the Union." "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "In which, sir?" "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "I am following you closely," I answered. "But you can know nothing of this?" permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the This is what he says: it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "And what then?" filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole views." "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other been deceived." "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we "Yes, at the mines." "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to spark where all is dark to me." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. that I can to serve you." mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "Well, some hundreds of times." answered with a sidelong glance. place of silver." "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very subject to the trademark license, especially commercial this remarkable episode. goes." charge against him will break down." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "Then you may be so with me." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a seem to you to be relevant or not." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself an introduction to him?" over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I definite end. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "It is a murder, then?" to miss it." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I in your London, you will know that the office of the company is doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, weary and pale-looking. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "I have a cab outside." she to prove their authenticity?" which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let Cross for the Continent." "Did your wife hear all this?" shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "It came here." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you way in everything. that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of the salesman. think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it telegram would bring me down to your help." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "I am still in the dark." greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the think you a quite exceptional woman." an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the problems help me to do so." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four will he say when he returns?" Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "What office?" recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the the station."