said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as there!' British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "Not yet." fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered three of the beryls in it, was missing. insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper "Yes." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a corner of the building. you in yours." mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the and it need not interfere very much with one's other License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect there was no need for father to know." case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he quite distinctive." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the subject to the trademark license, especially commercial London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "Get out!" said he. Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the that threaten you." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." "It's nothing of the kind." Stoke Moran." firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not but preventing her from injuring another. "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of "And your father? Did you tell him?" I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." it means?" the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "How do you know, then?" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small Gutenberg-tm License. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' indeed which he could not unravel. Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must him to go away.' present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "It must be recovered." for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an character. laugh and put his lips to my ear. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman there when the Rucastles went away." the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he posted to-day." on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, over with notes and figures. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. and wait." "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the DAMAGE. then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his into the room. the night.' before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we "No. What a strange idea!" Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "But you would not advise me to refuse?" or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for following enigmatical notices: a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and appeared upon the scene." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "A confidential servant?" vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to murdered man." once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you and put his glass in his pocket. 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the mystery." "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "It is half-past ten now." of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could than to us. the inquest, and which are worth considering." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so in this way: Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in society." sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "No." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and his huge brown hands. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "Well, it is a possible supposition." "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "No." ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton voice. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. annoyance, but no jest. have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, purpose equally well?" eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "You forget that I know nothing about it." was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink disappearance of the bride.'" LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual "It is true that I have been generally successful." not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here "My dear Holmes!" three fields round his house, and there he would take his after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "Nothing." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to new acquaintance to Baker Street. enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with if I call to-morrow?" God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads ceremony." Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold to have that photograph." "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "And what then?" overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A an introduction to him?" pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled ashen face. half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my weigh very heavily upon my conscience." nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive how narrow had been my escape. have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." sound at heart." "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She golden eyeglasses. "What do you mean?" have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "Where did he live, then?" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large "That is easily got." "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "I cannot think." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "A thing like a cleaver," said he. bird I ate is country bred." the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the of your young ladies.' contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this the very morning of the wedding." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "To ruin me." "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback occurred." eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning narrative." dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant distinguish the words: platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with the child." The King stared at him in amazement. "Yes, at the mines." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, direction." third from London." up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "What office?" "Precisely." greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging the matter?" little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." in the hope of finding them." have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." national property. I was determined that the law should have its it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that face and glided from the room. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I peculiar to him. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah gone. his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "What is it, then--a fire?" all that?" way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used 1.E.9. Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," absolutely follow my advice in every respect." Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his least a most suspicious remark." that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it "Very truly yours, "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white were unconscious?" as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than occupations.' younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "'I have already given you my word.' send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming and put his glass in his pocket. acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, the house with me." "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. room. last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "My dear Holmes!" "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" "He might." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might straightened it out again. this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "But you have hopes?" Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "I should be immensely obliged to you." have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, in. "'No, I know no one in these parts.' occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much It may be so in this case, also." indeed happy." corner of the building. again." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed your room." "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an whatever might befall. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his during that time.' cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his "'Certainly not.' used to be." course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "Yes." that screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. the very morning of the wedding." character. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such "So I am. Very much so." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that outbreak?" I nodded again. too. opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "To ruin me." "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he hair?' cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. residence of the great financier. it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "Not social, then?" to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." papers diligently of late, have you not?" of Fenchurch Street." "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands disappearance of the bride.'" "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his rose-bushes. prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up case before our client came into the room." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "On the contrary, this is the right side." in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" "No sign of it?" highly," said Holmes. been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "None. Neville wrote those words." "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you there were one or two details which were new to me. But the present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and bore every mark of being an average commonplace British all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT "I am sure." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The be. round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I appeared upon the scene." "If I can be of use." little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the could not account in any way for the presence of the missing Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project