success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "And why?" sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards went to the Alpha were town bred." four million human beings all jostling each other within the Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's of his shoulders. shoulder. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "It was an hour's good drive." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "Why did you pick him?" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry this man was intellectual?" of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "'A dozen yards or so.' "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to that I am arrested." dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a before, for it was considerably after midnight. of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of coat-tails." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as the address that was given us in the advertisement. Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon "Do you go out much in society?" Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. already been minutely examined." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "He is still with you, I presume?" door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, be sorry for having acted so harshly." read over the extraordinary announcement. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his noting anything else of interest. all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she mysterious end." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I Holmes rather sternly. the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very in this way: to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched "I was mad--insane." "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by the roots. "Pray do so." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend characteristics, but those are the more obvious." child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and occurred." "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the taking in every detail of the apartment. suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "Your sister is dead, then?" questioning and rather startled gaze. found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. the one as in the other." "What, then?" where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if is acting for the best. pound a week." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "It surprised me." through." very peculiar words of the dying woman?" hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor of your young ladies.' and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me any more." low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small orange pips. roused himself from his reverie. office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "You heard nothing yourself last night?" nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very intrusion of other matters." in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the one else, I think." deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she whereabouts. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote Watson," he said cordially. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray "Yes, that is the Crown." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of business at Coburg Square is serious." I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in Holmes' room. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "What of the rat, then?" round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I respectable self." quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, be sorry for having acted so harshly." several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with beyond words. should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." results." autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "Certainly." you?" eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, "What is it, then--a fire?" her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "Was there a secret marriage?" "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and individual and becomes the badge of a society." "There is the writing." "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an nonsense.' but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a charged with?" From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "You have but to name it." lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." quickly through a disagreeable task. "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may advice." "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "Your presence might be invaluable." "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend Watson," he said cordially. o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange said I. appeal." "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the help us in this matter." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable you understand?" finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "That is also quite modern," said the lady. at home. but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" "And now?" I asked. http://gutenberg.net/license). central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he the stones. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! His name is Francis Prosper." locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "What, then?" much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the man. sufficient punishment." son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. Holmes' room. "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying shaken than I had ever seen him. said he, "my real name is James Ryder." destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when night.' said he. life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary had no one to advise her at such a crisis." trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I dates and names. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "What of the rat, then?" "No, I am descending." to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "Here?" girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away begun to whiten, even as mine has." gone before you can get him to hospital." travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Always." moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in and put his glass in his pocket. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "I have hopes." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the "Upon what point?" "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at wedding?" 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said to tackle the facts." impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of locked." George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall might have a private word with us. think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would the child." visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question you give your casting vote to?" or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work the King without delay." "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight good-night and bustled off upon her way. what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will compunction about shooting them down." telegram would bring me down to your help." His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several my room." all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "He is still with you, I presume?" to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a a monotonous occupation." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to interests were the same as his." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "You are all wrong." The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "'It is locked up,' I answered. appeal." directly by questioning you." analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to it were putty." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between to a light-house. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "And that is--" reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Your sister is dead, then?" upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and power." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "Yes. He waved his hands." front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem strode off upon his way. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "'Is 4 pounds a week.' "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the