knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be of Mr. Rucastle's." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, used to be." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "Not in the least." is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "'In my own bureau.' It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "One?" "Well, some hundreds of times." TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is used to be." station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "You know me, then?" other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "Perhaps we may make them less so." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs "I see no marks." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from like gravel from a pit.' urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "I will get her to show me." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that note?" Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that this Miss Turner." o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked voice, changing her seat as requested. is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love events, Mr. Windibank!" He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three fatally injured? "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "My last client of the sort was a king." narrative." myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "But it has twice been burgled." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "Not I." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay go from here to the Strand." "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. over his head with a sweet womanly caress. be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, events, Mr. Windibank!" "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. works. See paragraph 1.E below. uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up even of instruction." Holmes' room. "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an certainly not very gracious." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. bare slabs of marble. of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most is acting for the best. Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "A thing like a cleaver," said he. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "You forget that I know nothing about it." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him if I call to-morrow?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. intimate personal affairs in this public manner." When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. will find little credit to be gained out of this case." there in twenty minutes." discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "One of his hands." would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "But what harm can there be in that?" "'And the work?' "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's once more to my work. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who entirely lost his self-respect." the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive nights." "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and system of imprisonment?" the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." yourselves in at night?" walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a have I gained?" mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark ago." front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in "Quite so. She has her freedom." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up the driver. ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed situation." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." States. among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every his fortune, and I went back to pa. was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg sofa. This way, please!" "He disappeared so suddenly." "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue Street. the coronet in his hands?" from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "But how did you gain them?" think, you have already met." eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "A call for help, you thought?" lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "But the mystery?" he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the from the brougham. "No." it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He is acting for the best. "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you "What can you not understand?" "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" thought that she would have been so carried away." seven miles from Eyford Station.' cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' there has been an enclosure here!" my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "It is half-past ten now." broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece I nodded again. "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! States. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that feature." teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a shoulder; "he's all right." "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Which are?" he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Awake, Watson?" he asked. Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "Very well, sir. And this stone?" "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "It may not come to that," said Holmes. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "Not him." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may purpose equally well?" events, Mr. Windibank!" Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who night.' said he. certainly not very gracious." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Oh, the cause is excellent!" He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "None." "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no Holmes' room. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "I cannot tell." saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in fatally injured? yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, there." Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault I nodded to show that I had heard. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "Ten will be early enough." and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working hardly wander." My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick outbreak?" key turn in the lock." "'What, the red-headed man?' so far?" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second that he has suffered." room. that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no hurried by. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "But what is it you wish?" "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "Pray be precise as to details," said he. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face again on its way. expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered mystery may be cleared along those lines." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. there has been an enclosure here!" Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put "Pray let us have it, for all that." hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that is so. I know all about McCarthy." followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to later, upon the night of May 2nd." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "What, then, did Peterson do?" "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been Holmes' thin, eager face. of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I less than 26s. 4d. Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of morning." "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "That also I could fathom." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what breakfast and whispered something to her husband. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to maid will bring up your coffee." morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which system of imprisonment?" "From his hat?" "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the only touch the interest." central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should down from London to inquire more deeply into it." matters immensely." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "No legal papers or certificates?" estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson hereditary King of Bohemia." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" there was no need for father to know." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever better grown goose." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which to his chemical studies. sound at heart." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Dark enough and sinister enough." rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "Nothing." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some