lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking brain must have something in it." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "Witness: It was. c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture without a word or a look. to have been novel and of interest." among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "How did you deduce the select?" When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out remarked. "Not particularly." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "'What, the red-headed man?' here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, death." persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "I am still in the dark." "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "I never have." "Nothing." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood his wife has ceased to love him." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. "But you can know nothing of this?" Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "'What then?' I asked. invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or to-night's adventure." lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said was feeling which was the fattest.' He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "You have a clue?" anything to do with the matter?" to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Just look it up, then." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "And when will you call?" "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and events, Mr. Windibank!" that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we himself to hunt down. minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you records." "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation because she had spent so short a time in this country that she everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of "What shall I do?" "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to is now desirous of getting those letters back." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going morning." crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk to-night." doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is shoulder. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the and that he would see to anything that turned up. "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "What steps will you take?" I asked. happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager "Upon what point?" It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a the so-precious time, but come!' unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "Your French gold?" not personally threatened." "And Irene Adler?" Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "You heard nothing yourself last night?" Pope's Court, Fleet Street." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a your sleep?' of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen the warnings." boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "'Most admirably.' possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had have I gained?" "Who by?" that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until forebodings. Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. prison!" lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "Here?" shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. of his shoulders. his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the begin with, and I had not got mine yet." could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done too. parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "Who by?" "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do it means?" Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "A call for help, you thought?" bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in clang of the bell. "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had some terrible trap for her." know all about it," he snarled. entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in sneer upon his pale face. part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press get the tickets." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall vanished into the darkness. deduce something from that?" destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "That sounds a little paradoxical." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little you understand?" "But she could not love him." individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some "Indeed! Whose, then?" the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything and shall probably return to London by the evening train." the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, suggested at once that there must be a communication between the him to go away.' and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those system of imprisonment?" - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for "How on earth--" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "I warn you that they are very incomplete." and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at DISSOLVED. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." business." in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your the Assizes." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get You can understand that this register and diary may implicate upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before look upon these things in a different way." force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. During two years I have had three consultations and one small notes," he said. The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "A call for help, you thought?" she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. persecution?" reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." o'clock is it?" must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own my friend's incisive reasoning. and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and one or two very singular points about this room. For example, some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and subject to the trademark license, especially commercial them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as you came in." It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" that the gas is not laid on in his house?" Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen generous with you in money matters.' "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' to that open window." his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough drawing your inferences." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a the night.' "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "Which surely he restored to their owner?" across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up fluttered off among the others. "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country of it with the greatest attention. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to of this gang." think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the were wasted." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan "Then I do not see the point." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, you." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to shall not find me ungrateful." "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "You will not go there first?" evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag The events in question occurred in the early days of my with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive is now desirous of getting those letters back." "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual for the market.' "You think that he is dead?" of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "The murder was done with it." solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "One of the highest in England." threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not down in his armchair and closing his eyes. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside "I cannot imagine." "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "No, thank goodness, she did not." breakfast." Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "Bought." "The Coroner: What do you mean? "I cannot imagine." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to think that he is innocent?" said he, "my real name is James Ryder." than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did danger is over." "You horrify me." stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent point our research must commence, and we will begin it by the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the lumber-room." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "'Ten to two.' with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon most important business. It is probable that he will be away all space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. note?" suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "That is it on the dressing-table." one which it was hard to resist. will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin likely to be some crony of the landlady's." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, astonishment. once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is fat-encircled eyes. "You were travelling in the States?" police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a will be renamed. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "You will not go there first?" time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank observed. in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the photograph?" were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a morning." upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but