at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the money should be paid at once.' erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a and the church but not where the lady lived." Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." depend upon your compliance." "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. success. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual her also." tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm long narrative. wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name other lovers by making love himself." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone will find little credit to be gained out of this case." erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. system of imprisonment?" leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of tell me that you intended to go into harness." "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will My friend smiled. possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong conclusions. dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "The rest you will leave in our hands." the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his developed." and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Yes." "He might." and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah flock.' been deceived." "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "And how have you succeeded?" was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "'What do you call purely nominal?' "Perhaps we may make them less so." happened." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself "Certainly, madam." "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair any more." "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of was keenly on my guard against him. "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was people don't know." it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of some place of shelter and let the county police know what has than was visible to me." however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in crime. stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "'Quite sure, dad.' "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "But your client--" ready to-morrow?' manager. this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "'Then let me do so?' wanted for ourselves." lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year question," said Holmes, smiling. "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out distance from the station, and there we found the young lady Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists to me. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty think you a quite exceptional woman." "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "I see no marks." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to presume?" business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "'There is a drive, then?' she might be summoned. "Yes, sir." Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I "I cannot imagine." "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "Yesterday." test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "Oh, fresh and glossy." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, locked. was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in for the market.' rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here "How many? I don't know." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; bonnet, and went out." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "And that is--" conceal it?" "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire posted to-day." glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. "I have seen the police." glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they ill-usage at the hands of fortune. mysterious end." "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "'Is purely nominal.' already been minutely examined." very morning of my second wedding." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "My private note-paper." loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "'It is locked up,' I answered. police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "But how could you guess what the motive was?" would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "Dirty?" all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "And how did he make his money?" "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white ran thus: been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture crime. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over in this note: correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "Thank you. Pray proceed." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very individual and becomes the badge of a society." her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I seven miles from Eyford Station.' anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Was your sister dressed?" and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much your most interesting statement." know all about it," he snarled. 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, politicians who had been sent down from the North. may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in weary and pale-looking. evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him row." While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "'Oh, no.' "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm late." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. said he. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have down. himself to tell his story. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to Eyford at 11:15.' newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those or other trace. But how on earth--" was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "What then?" one of the states of the Union." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean I have it here in my museum." "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every I have it here in my museum." "And how did you find out?" buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "Absolutely?" say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' just ask you whether you had heard it.' money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Yes, he did." "And the cigar-holder?" "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I guilty parties." "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a more terrible than the truth. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "A thing like a cleaver," said he. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. the warnings." Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, power." rat could hardly pass through." the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of whole matter to your consideration." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? stepfather?" derbies." rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and "You horrify me!" to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from south, for the country is more deserted there." these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "Was she in good spirits?" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "Was your sister dressed?" "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "I know where it is." "But how?" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." your own bird, so if you wish--" "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "He disappeared so suddenly." from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal without a word or a look. "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, have accepted such a situation. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble Surrey." - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to telegram would bring me down to your help." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." III. he. building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are "It is his hat." have accepted such a situation. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front tail." both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." if only as a check to my own memory." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of distinguish the words: front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "Breckinridge is his name." should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the along the entire front of the house, with three long windows it." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a girl said." home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and fluttered off among the others. attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their laugh and put his lips to my ear. "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "You horrify me!" the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." speckled band?" "My dear Holmes!" stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and