face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood plantation.' Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite Serpentine Avenue. experiences." assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Will you go?" room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I Pope's Court. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project fait accompli?" I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled if I call to-morrow?" good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to matters immensely." or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may "He disappeared so suddenly." there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I if she died from some sudden fright." Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the questioning and rather startled gaze. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to and glanced through. of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever was it brought him the coronet? with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the take the flies, but not before." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "The landlord of the Alpha." Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon ready to-morrow?' sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "So I am. Very much so." the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "And I." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the Leave Paddington by the 11:15." of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "Quite so." warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "She walked into the breakfast-room." and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "Nothing?" his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would where she found matters as described by the last witness. feature." "Married! When?" given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as as noiselessly as she had come. disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of the side-table." "Frequently." I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was promised to bring home. was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip think that any burglar could have done. advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "Nothing?" somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a "That is also quite modern," said the lady. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for interest. They are important, you understand, without being an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere security.' two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been me. "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of Does that suggest anything?" "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "'And what are they worth?' I asked. 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "'Then let me do so?' whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of to you." nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made sooner or later she must fall a victim. "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" shaken than I had ever seen him. "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "Yes, but only for you and me." families. Now for the facts. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the information in his hands the value of which he did not himself deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big becomes even more simple." said he. "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "I never have." instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a my friend's incisive reasoning. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the before the coroner and the police-court." "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "It must be recovered." bachelor.' work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "I warn you that they are very incomplete." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon business." gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian upon a handsome competence. "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here "The Cedars?" salesman. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when will take you up to see the machine.' other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "No, my brougham is waiting." coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "And when will you call?" is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened with you alone." say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "Why serious?" "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But unclasping of his long thin hands. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully to miss it." so far?" five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and read it out to me." to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "A thing like a cleaver," said he. to go into your room and bar your shutters?" done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "I should wish to." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely tied." man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "But she could not love him." not come at once?" "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my Watson," he said cordially. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should hour?' "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very begun to whiten, even as mine has." late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking of the way of danger. "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. Munro.' such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, least a most suspicious remark." most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I one of them." his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence thirty. him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far so far?" Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He you." to some other building. "And leave your case unfinished?" sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have him to be an active member of the medical profession." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was should be taken.' wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "It is possible." that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Never." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon best detective that ever lived. everything which you would wish to know." the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as will he say when he returns?" the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, standing smiling on the door-step. fish-monger and a tide-waiter." peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "Holmes, the busybody!" property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a floor. "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend wedding?" your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his gone. Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "Yes." "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "'Certainly not. But why?' Leadenhall Street--and--" late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting this remarkable episode. residence of the great financier. fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but society." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. you came in." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in in my life." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with photograph?" beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they the coronet at all injured?" abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle sentimental considerations in the background which would induce very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" present." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience is a common subject for conversation. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do bare slabs of marble. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he searched, without anything being found which could incriminate knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" The King stared at him in amazement. significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "'Is purely nominal.' hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and instincts rose up against that laugh. money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "Won't it ring?" a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into is a common subject for conversation. third from London." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "And Irene Adler?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at cigar and let me expound." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so excitement. to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "How on earth--" Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal