explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said sake, don't!" "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "'I have already given you my word.' way in everything. the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to acquaintance?" he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the get her out of the way." fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "What then?" yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are some terrible trap for her." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question Sutherland?" shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "'What then?' I asked. without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and to Leatherhead. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "Always." INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "Yes. He waved his hands." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the Miss Holder?" invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." gentleman's clothes. you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was just called myself is not exactly my own." "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived some mystery and the punishment of some crime." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "What can it mean?" I gasped. of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are be.' business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact persecution?" observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my "And now?" I asked. He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have bachelor.' of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual this remarkable episode. and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So to Leatherhead. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "Do you go out much in society?" Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that of your young ladies.' "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "When did she vanish, then?" Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "Yes, certainly." therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for now. It seems that there had been some informality about their The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "Why? What do you mean?" again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a became a certainty. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "Do you know him?" year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "I don't believe it." black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated see me here to avoid scandal." he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his were wasted." Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or became a certainty. considering the formidable letters which were received by himself finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. records." "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Here?" Farm upon the left." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting the Assizes." lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and away in different directions, and I went off to make my own self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "That also I could fathom." borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "Whose house is it?" acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important events than those which have happened in my own family." "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he that you can jump it.' receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, behind me. blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "But it has twice been burgled." his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There think that any burglar could have done. "Yes, at the mines." his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to enter into my head. said Mr. Holder. "Thank you. And your address?" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "Yes, there are nearly always some there." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "And you can do nothing until then?" him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far test if we have an answer to our advertisement." you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "My stepfather's business papers." The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with nonsense.' "'Ten to two.' "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these you?' was the fact that his father should, according to his account, fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "Yes, sir." possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I look upon these things in a different way." even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "I say that I have solved it." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "Was your sister dressed?" beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was careless servant girl?" "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "Of Friday, June 19th." "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his she to prove their authenticity?" room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke late." "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He with her." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." bell. Holmes whistled. congratulate you again." He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him people don't know." "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire than was visible to me." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal it." closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few hurried by. And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying felt?" bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark at a side door. the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "Your presence might be invaluable." plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place you do it in twenty minutes!' "I am all attention, madam." the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry in this note: Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." Miss Holder?" fact, we may call it conclusive." but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to heavily into it. of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I villagers almost as much as their master. characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "You heard nothing yourself last night?" occurred." believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "Perfectly so." petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came little adventures." "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a strong reason behind." bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "How often?" Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "Nothing?" "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "Quite so. She has her freedom." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot carriage. It was a chestnut." know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular depend upon my doing so.' "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," "My photograph." "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" daring than any effort of the imagination." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in are, and they are waiting for us." were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and infinite languor in his face. "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased brought there to personate someone, and the real person is however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms late." Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may the night.' "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be used to be." "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "How did you trace it, then?" written. reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. dear old homesteads?" arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, telegram would bring me down to your help." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "You'll never persuade me to believe that." as the one I chose?' perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and it." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a for the market.' hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "I should be immensely obliged to you." concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared call you and give you the chance." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you it." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I presented more singular features than that which was associated old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss Gutenberg-tm License. justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "The murder was done with it." Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "I don't say that. Perhaps." through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I point our research must commence, and we will begin it by struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out true." business came to an end." whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" noise which awoke you from your sleep?" sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and had picked up in the wood. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a at a side door. opportunities to fix the problem. my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a you came in." "On Monday." so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that main points of my analysis." town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "'Ample.' reach." "'Is 4 pounds a week.' Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a crackling voice.