"Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "I am about to be married." was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "One horse?" interjected Holmes. with you alone." had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and Sutherland. snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "Of Friday, June 19th." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place something of him before." Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is paper in the air. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, "What of the rat, then?" "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in "Very much so." white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "'How far from the body?' breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "I am still in the dark." four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently the coronet at all injured?" and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing to arrive at through this?" "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "What is it?" "I never have." "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR outside." seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford back alive. observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "And why?" "How can you tell that?" on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "Only as much as we can deduce." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical strode off upon his way. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. most interesting one." you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And pictures, libraries, or plate. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are and have this put in the evening papers." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, you in yours." my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the girl said." of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old affection." one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "Indeed! Whose, then?" a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "One?" would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and http://www.gutenberg.net "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of had no one to advise her at such a crisis." traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "It is to him that this trophy belongs." caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "That is it on the dressing-table." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. very old mansion. stood on the top of it. thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of chill to my heart. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "And how in the world did you find them?" quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable "It is no ordinary one." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution danger is over." uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send bed dies. Does not that strike you?" landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon away in different directions, and I went off to make my own Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "In which, sir?" was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources washing it down with a long draught of water. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "Pray do so." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their "Yes, it would be as well." envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our the ceiling. "That you are never beaten." thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father "My dear Holmes!" offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the here." adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at has little to do with my story." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "'Is purely nominal.' "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of sufficient punishment." returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "My last client of the sort was a king." "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "To an English lawyer named Norton." you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing it. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with said he at last. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour late." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "ARAT," I read. social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous most interesting one." than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "What then?" former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the before, for it was considerably after midnight. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured questioning and rather startled gaze. walking." between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a ways of our fellow-men." the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no that before taking the final step I should like to submit the endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "And I say east," said my patient. simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his right! Sit down and let us talk it over." "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat with her." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "And for present expenses?" that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of points in connection with it which never have been, and probably When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end in my life." The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this I held the little printed slip to the light. "In answer to an advertisement." "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Why did you pick him?" other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited wanted for ourselves." the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "'Yes, sir.' letters?" gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of knowledge of the world." wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the strength in the others." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "I have seen the police." cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' strode off upon his way. probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps formed some opinion?" electronic works "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." works. See paragraph 1.E below. could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any carriage. It was a chestnut." met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock This is what he says: "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating that the gas is not laid on in his house?" mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco them, and came down just as you departed. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That case-book, which he consulted. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a for and were ordered to this address. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no in this note: and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to nights." "She told me to ask you." baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding in one or two places in England?' previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it placed his cuttings. in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "And you don't know his address?" of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a prisoner's face. "Why did you beat the pavement?" minor matters until to-morrow." THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. you give your casting vote to?" "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical Holmes' face clouded over. disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must to that open window." corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "No. What a strange idea!" One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house since then to throw any light upon what became of him." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making compunction about shooting them down." yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while business." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "What is it, then--a fire?" nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose business matters.' depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil way in everything. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable think that any burglar could have done. "I shall be delighted." examination of the premises, but without finding anything which works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "I am to be neutral?" hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "About a month then." "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was waste of energy." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign present." present strange and interesting features that it is no easy pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "This photograph!" yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" and glanced through. until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "Pray be precise as to details," said he. to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking intrusion of other matters." what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "I shall be delighted." "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "Certainly." column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "I was afraid that you were engaged." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a there has been an enclosure here!" that, and I came down." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. your bag." Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. and a shock of very red hair. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" your only hope of safety." Street. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "What can it mean?" I gasped. call for protection in the marriage market, for the present would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael "What is it?" father's young wife. thought that she would have been so carried away." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would father's young wife. late." strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, you do it in twenty minutes!' "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any copied or distributed: enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping enough to aid us in our search." "In which, sir?" answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and drawing your inferences." It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the