"'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "But what harm can there be in that?" A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we humiliation." "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend depend upon my doing so.' "Yes, but only for you and me." passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated ready to-morrow?' He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, bird I ate is country bred." the best of training." whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "I warn you that they are very incomplete." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off compunction about shooting them down." "That is it on the dressing-table." sufficient punishment." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you empty. highly," said Holmes. room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a will he say when he returns?" "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were is acting for the best. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. returning from some small jollification and was making his way the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying me where it went to?" round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So posted to-day." toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the station." "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be carried out of court." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most and that he would see to anything that turned up. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, interested in these little problems, and since you are good prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "Quite so." much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand disappearance of these gems?" swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the outbreak?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "So I have heard." certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "Have you her photograph?" you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." purpose of examination. in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A "We must have a cab." Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham there!' "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." Stoke Moran." "'Yes.' "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it call you and give you the chance." struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes woman." "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us nonsense.' "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew there has been an enclosure here!" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "None." "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the one else, I think." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic down. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "But your client--" "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." to-night." me, and I could not think that his explanation of the present." "Yes." "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "What! Had he lost his wife?" sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "Yes." over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any "My stepfather's business papers." America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "We must have a cab." will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Upon what point?" "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "I guessed as much." train.' fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "'And what are they worth?' I asked. to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you present." "You have but to name it." Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing becomes even more simple." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known is so. I know all about McCarthy." colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "Then you may be so with me." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" putting in the horse. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would head. So long, then!" "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, village inn over there?" the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "What then?" object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence that I may have something better before very many minutes are the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, me, and I could not think that his explanation of the "What do you make of that, Watson?" bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! closing the door. I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for copied or distributed: keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a himself to tell his story. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the right! Sit down and let us talk it over." home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right lectures into a series of tales." to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. asked. during that time.' With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "Nothing?" "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "What have you to say now?" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "The decline of his fortunes, then?" whereabouts. second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he public press." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "Thank you. Pray proceed." How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an himself in a perplexing position. sneer upon his pale face. gbnewby@pglaf.org strength." and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "Very truly yours, to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "But his left-handedness." you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have wedding?" desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "'I am sure if I had known--' call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "What! Had he lost his wife?" The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud presume?" pity, because in other respects you would really have done very my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He would then never go into court at all." Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the "And why in hopes?" "His face fell immediately. arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "9th. McCauley cleared. "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang or other trace. But how on earth--" The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the me. You must get home instantly and act." London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The This is what he says: I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up hard-headed British jury." before, for it was considerably after midnight. was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which to take care of herself." John Swain, of St. Augustine. envelope. "It is half-past ten now." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and "It is a murder, then?" to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "What then?" "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself second window is the one that I jumped from." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "It is half-past ten now." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your shadow pass over his face as I spoke. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my murdered man." plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "'Yes, I promise.' even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only question you as to those details which seem to me to be most one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided drawing your inferences." "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how walking." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "'I have already given you my word.' left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at in a very precise fashion." despaired of." one or two very singular points about this room. For example, Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked The King stared at him in amazement. Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, gone. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the Sholtos." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use Literary Archive Foundation "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "Precisely so. But how--" Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "Do you know him?" drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new instituted." successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "Did you become engaged then?" place of silver." "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew four million human beings all jostling each other within the from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and leaning back in his chair. is worth.' therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't Mary, has deserted me." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their where she found matters as described by the last witness. Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." sooner or later she must fall a victim. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "Not him." three fields round his house, and there he would take his "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face I was concerned in it." coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "How did you deduce the select?" "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or upon a handsome competence. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him answered with a sidelong glance. least a fellow-countryman. with her." man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "It looks newer than the other things?" heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, was once confined in the cab my mission was practically skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look "You think that he is dead?"