pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are "Then, as to money?" thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "What have you done?" asked Holmes. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a have got?" he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the me. You must get home instantly and act." the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black character. and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that "Yes, all." lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "If I can be of use." friend's singular character. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very "My photograph." and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "I cannot imagine." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "'Is 4 pounds a week.' delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport conceal it?" gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "'As governess?' for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "And how did he make his money?" within hail.' Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. which are rolled in Rotterdam." word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and is acting for the best. Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular tied." "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then "It is a murder, then?" stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond excitement. Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. you understand?" scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." floor. them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "It certainly sounds feasible." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "I cannot imagine." way: were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "A call for help, you thought?" "No." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to could not have written that. It is the German who is so "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "How often?" when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers answer." leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "That is unusual in a young girl." across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you outside. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of thin, with a long, sharp nose?" upon the white wrist. after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was lamp in his hand. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Ten will be early enough." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the details." "And you don't know his address?" be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Very murderous indeed." yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out prisoner's face. present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic to tell." knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "Perfectly so." not fit the lock." "This concluded the examination of the witness." chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to with you alone." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in was keenly on my guard against him. the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. "An accident, I presume?" my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the returned to France?" quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "None." younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that learned something! Where are the gems?" Holmes. that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "Well, some hundreds of times." at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of the child." and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "I was mad--insane." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and suggested at once that there must be a communication between the Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no your room." are, and they are waiting for us." go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close way: "How did you deduce the select?" Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Yes." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "No, I think that I'll take it." case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "'About the same.' "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past photograph?" the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "My dear Holmes!" "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From it." sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main works. secret." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Yes." locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father were new raised from a basin. beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "Do you receive much company?" he asked. Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must "What I expected to see." and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. mystery!" Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. nights." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon fait accompli?" "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through very old mansion. obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the door?" down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What papers must be those that are destroyed.' had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our into the room. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "Not in a good cause." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend crowd. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "It looks newer than the other things?" outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" them present such singular features as the strange train of pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "I am still in the dark." it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "Was there a secret marriage?" "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and passage and a tap at the door. "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was me, and I could not think that his explanation of the the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "My own seal." need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "Yes." Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I in the port of London." Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my little trying to do so much typewriting?" I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him shadow pass over his face as I spoke. jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' not come at once?" understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "None." may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was nothing of it?" "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that neither fascinating nor artistic." I approached. very peculiar words of the dying woman?" resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is asked. gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty "A greater distance to travel." "It is no ordinary one." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them man. "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "No more words. Get out!" the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding shall use the carriage to-night." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." it." "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two chance." room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm away into the river." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I will he say when he returns?" upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for "'And the work?' guilty parties." Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the cheerful." whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." danger is over." "Perfectly so." case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "Not in the least." similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the and no precautions can guard against." round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those you." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "By all means." glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot forecastle of an emigrant ship. and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "Then I can wait in the next room." to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near should be taken.' into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be think that he is innocent?" stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "I am still in the dark." had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones companion. "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The bell. Holmes whistled. here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very matters immensely." overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what tension within him. walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "Upon what point?" together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, charged with?" indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "'I have already given you my word.' When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between