was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "Frequently." o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his Eyford." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other pictures, libraries, or plate. tear off another piece?' the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, heavily into it. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." appointment with me for six o'clock?" heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "No?" paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "When did she vanish, then?" "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but exactly what you advise." "Did he not advertise?" following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and the loss of it. cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a the roots. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not 'please.'" Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "And how did you verify them?" When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be entirely lost his self-respect." Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. narrative." the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "I cannot tell." "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know jewels which you have stolen?' "'Stolen!' he cried. varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "Not social, then?" "At what time?" twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "Yes, only one." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was so far?" uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate likely to be some crony of the landlady's." He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. during which he might have communicated with his friend the and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Does that suggest anything?" upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to whole matter to your consideration." any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman "Quite so. She has her freedom." face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "Awake, Watson?" he asked. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by hurried away. in one or two places in England?' "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "But what will you do?" his face. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" again, where I was soon asleep. there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the "Then I am your man." soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. into the room. four million human beings all jostling each other within the "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "Was the window open?" will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "Bought." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and Holmes' room. "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. crackling voice. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little face and glided from the room. "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less death." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "If so, much may have happened between." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "You did not overhear what they said?" 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, the bed, and you in that chair." A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have in darkness. was feeling which was the fattest.' have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of power." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed I am not easy in my mind about them." fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six delighted to hear it," he said. signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." direction." "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself once more for Briony Lodge. to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me when you have done it." which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "Proceed, then." "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it easy-going way." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the golden eyeglasses. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir new duties?' half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime even of instruction." are, and they are waiting for us." "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it "In which, sir?" waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "'Yes, sir.' showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my to his chemical studies. maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "What, then?" will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "We have tried and failed." the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, affair. "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "Then he might have called to you?" the Red-headed League." "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge assist you in forming an opinion." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his late!' if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "Awake, Watson?" he asked. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, copied or distributed: begin with, and I had not got mine yet." following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps happened." occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." What do you deduce from it?" from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the the night.' of a light. the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white at my remark. "Come in!" said he. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in followed. was feeling which was the fattest.' four million human beings all jostling each other within the A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him out." suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never important." "You saw the ventilator, too?" that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "What! You do not mean bodies?" "Only as much as we can deduce." other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement relief. after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the bird I ate is country bred." entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "It missed him, then?" but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "I cannot imagine." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon father's place of business?" hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil train.' over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more himself to hunt down. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, your sleep?' American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking point our research must commence, and we will begin it by few hundred pounds.' "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet cost them two and thirty pounds." call the police, let the police find what they can.' that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew 11:15.' system of imprisonment?" office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "But you were on a friendly footing?" not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of outside. compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight mystery!" his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was when your master had gone out." "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord the ceiling. girl said." him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. carpenter." "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a together. "Yes, that is the Crown." voice. became a certainty. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. not, dad?" she asked. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "It is to him that this trophy belongs." deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate it." lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed better in every way that they should make their position a little a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" fat-encircled eyes. to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "I think it very unlikely." and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort words came to my lips. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat call for it in person on Monday morning.' carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the impression behind it as though a window had gently closed waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself 1.F. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "Precisely so. But how--" answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "And Irene Adler?" "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "No sign of it?" deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses tied." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some shaken than I had ever seen him. young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "And how?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. the roots. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate one else, I think." deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at writing, and yet I know it well." Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "Yes." coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "You did not overhear what they said?" he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across galvanised. "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, anything to a woman, for she would have her way." "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the obstinate." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her out of this horrible affair." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I vague figure huddled up in the darkness. drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was Cross for the Continent." "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the horse could go." Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside,