married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. returned to France?" "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he me where it went to?" office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "Yes." this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "At what time?" "How are you getting on?" in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes presented more singular features than that which was associated half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head cheerful." logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "10th. John Swain cleared. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a cigar and let me expound." I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers obstinate." "It is half-past ten now." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." joking. round with crates and massive boxes. active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester I shall continue with my miserable story. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the more solid." such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must your bag." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "In San Francisco, a year ago." shall not find me ungrateful." than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed tightly behind him. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "My dear Holmes!" as he folded up the epistle. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle I nodded again. agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "9th. McCauley cleared. "What, then?" the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; troubles have been weighing upon his mind. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how IS secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was door?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "And how in the world did you find them?" the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "Stolen." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "'And the work?' woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Pray be precise as to details," said he. disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my important." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those it." sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In clanging. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "What can you not understand?" English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a really the only notable feature about the thing." green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "Certainly." pressing in one house as in another. "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "Pray do so." the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in will find little credit to be gained out of this case." said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to "Come in!" said he. so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when to-night." other means.' deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before so.' should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of question," said Holmes, smiling. intimate personal affairs in this public manner." law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Will you go?" "But what is it you wish?" window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "Yes." it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, made him keep the appointment." examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue cigars in their mouths. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one "And when will you call?" leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress to tackle the facts." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a congratulate you again." very morning of my second wedding." explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. that I am arrested." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For such person." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and more terrible than the truth. passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "You will not go there first?" reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty words came to my lips. the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and easy-going way." the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, him and tried to hold him back. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "'Stolen!' he cried. furiously. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "No." memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the whole matter to your consideration." journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a developed." your own bird, so if you wish--" "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these front of me. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "That is it on the dressing-table." least a most suspicious remark." access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as opportunities to fix the problem. unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. sound at heart." certainly not very gracious." "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me criminal. We have already had experience of such." "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "Witness: I must still refuse. direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was the roots. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began "Ah!" "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "'Which dealer's?' settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. not, dad?" she asked. said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic leaning back in his chair. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up hands. and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me retorted upon me, and I on you." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing I held the little printed slip to the light. "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" village inn over there?" "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a sit on the left-hand side of the driver." confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered it were putty." village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my bore every mark of being an average commonplace British him to be an active member of the medical profession." hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. purpose of examination. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted bill, which interests me deeply." figure." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were once more. gives a meaning to it." chamber." front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. to a light-house. copied or distributed: "I was mad--insane." dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that seem to you to be relevant or not." reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and will find little credit to be gained out of this case." he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter had picked up in the wood. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "And the murderer?" in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the "I beg pardon." still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our speckled band?" wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that page at http://pglaf.org "How about poison?" ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "But you were on a friendly footing?" and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out place of silver." "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of "And why in hopes?" Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast acted in my house last night?" "How did you deduce the select?" trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods to a light-house. my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the never will be, entirely cleared up. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "It was." furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were nothing with him." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was woven round him. chamber." no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "Dr. Becher's." the salesman. in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what shoulder. Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the there were one or two details which were new to me. But the serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the to you." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in call for protection in the marriage market, for the present set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of was a perfect sample of the class. Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; coroner's jury." tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for Mrs. Toller serenely. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in said he at last. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the down from London to inquire more deeply into it." Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by anything to a woman, for she would have her way." depend upon your compliance." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "Did your wife hear all this?" force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, strong and stiff." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay Holmes." quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "'You cannot say what it was?' very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a notes," he said. practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "'What are you doing there?' he asked. corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "He said too much." brandy and water within his reach. desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a matters immensely." in darkness. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. other, as fresh and trim as possible. gone. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have should be taken.' upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I at my own good fortune. and effective." moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite You want to know what became of those geese?" Again Holmes raved in the air. house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage helping a boy to put up the shutters. photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." know that the truth is known." disappearance of the bride.'" "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was if only as a check to my own memory." "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called she to prove their authenticity?" of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a very peculiar words of the dying woman?" people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "No more words. Get out!" are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "You saw the ventilator, too?" table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "What of the rat, then?" that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "But what harm can there be in that?" unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the opened a pocket-book and took out a note. And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this I shall continue with my miserable story. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my "Holmes, the busybody!" upon the shelf for the interim." glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the Surrey." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "Was your sister dressed?" I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret lamp in his hand. tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if them, and came down just as you departed. people don't know." "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less noble correspondent could be. "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "Then what has happened to him?" squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his