get her out of the way." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had hour?' "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her you for a few hours?" humiliation." at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such stammered. "Murdered?" had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the I took the paper from him and read as follows: controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I "Come in!" said he. face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses during which he might have communicated with his friend the like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "A client, then?" "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "And how in the world did you find them?" rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left chill to my heart. more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "But how?" of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a Have you good authority for what you say?" Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I dates and names. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged meant." had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the beyond words. have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "Where did he live, then?" to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon forehead. front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' woman who has had her own way to make in the world. centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he down in his armchair and closing his eyes. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said populous neighbourhood." "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "Perhaps I have." "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some security.' before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "'About the same.' "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, simple cases which are so extremely difficult." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid garden below. father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing taking in every detail of the apartment. I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with already been minutely examined." them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "I have come for advice." again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they "But to whom?" "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; "Perfectly so." said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "Could he throw no light?" a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which washing it down with a long draught of water. he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to coat-tails." "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of campaign. so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "What is it, then--a fire?" excitement. "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "Then I am your man." thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "You have it, sir, just as it happened." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told affection." "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "'In my own bureau.' would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "Where, indeed?" infinite languor in his face. Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in noise which awoke you from your sleep?" 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth go back?" have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My Gutenberg-tm License. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark my special province." Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "That is also quite modern," said the lady. come either from the window or the door. My attention was Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Cross for the Continent." me. on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's golden eyeglasses. in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing know all about it," he snarled. and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" drove away. "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have my secret was safe in his possession. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective affair. step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and answered with a sidelong glance. established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "What are they?" overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into case before our client came into the room." open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. thirty. the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which himself. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself The events in question occurred in the early days of my pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "You are all wrong." Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out It was close upon four before the door opened, and a facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm him and tried to hold him back. "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" the matter." How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly been shamefully used." I shall communicate with you." "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become was a perfect sample of the class. natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his indiscretion." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "None." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I Sutherland?" such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an tell me that you intended to go into harness." "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I bore every mark of being an average commonplace British his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "None." "And that is--" Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable death." used to be." here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which laugh and put his lips to my ear. homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to John Swain, of St. Augustine. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham to a light-house. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "The King of Scandinavia." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. see me here to avoid scandal." "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." McCarthy." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of brought there to personate someone, and the real person is besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "I will try. What is it?" sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where everything which you would wish to know." "Very. But will he see it?" disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it friends, not even his own brother. wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That again before evening." flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I himself. foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards recall any case within my experience which looked at the first well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She there." "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure depend upon your compliance." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you bonnet, and went out." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Yes, sir." "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, daring than any effort of the imagination." extraordinary contortions. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have felt?" "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "Yes, he did." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was deduce something from that?" coat-tails." "Not particularly." that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in some place of shelter and let the county police know what has Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" have not had my rubber." broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "I don't say that. Perhaps." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in "'Which dealer's?' asked. violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he plantation.' we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "Very much so." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out neither fascinating nor artistic." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow served to weaken the effect. "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur as noiselessly as she had come. the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "'It is locked up,' I answered. away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate sufficient punishment." "But how?" "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank business at Coburg Square is serious." permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter Sutherland?" Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to strong reason behind." is so. I know all about McCarthy." through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "'Very good.' Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "No bad?" his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." DAMAGE. "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over nothing with him." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, of this gang." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were heavy and sharp instrument." Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss main points of my analysis." "Look there!" said he. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever danger is over." "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your you understand?" dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." on re-entering her father's house?" when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "It's nothing of the kind." was lame." "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, way in everything. my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "And how did he make his money?" "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage new acquaintance to Baker Street. I took the paper from him and read as follows: appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" again, where I was soon asleep. easy-going way." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you third from London." much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. be sorry for having acted so harshly." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage breakfast?" every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before directly by questioning you." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in passage and a tap at the door. quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us lumber-room." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to you give your casting vote to?" "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried never will be, entirely cleared up. were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with definite end. has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social placed his cuttings. am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in this note: "If so, much may have happened between." as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of "Ha! you find it so?" he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have door?" other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I