of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "I see no marks." shall use the carriage to-night." husband's writing, madam." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in imbecility!" he cried. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a once more. have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's Serpentine Avenue. or in danger--" this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came girl said." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey down. How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire "Yes, they were peculiar boots." License. You must require such a user to return or comes from the middle window." arrested. You then--" is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "And why in hopes?" "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of your Highness to the police-station?" read it out to me." Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who "Her father is very rich?" used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. chance at all." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of spare." a few minutes he said that it would be all right. not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of were wasted." results." preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's "It is very kind of you." near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: papers diligently of late, have you not?" where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." peculiar to him. five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, ways of our fellow-men." daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to about here speaks of his kindness to him." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A to a light-house. "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the he bowed and left the room without another word. it." face and glided from the room. look dissatisfied." "Were they all fastened this morning?" "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "I will, Miss Turner." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "Quite so." Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been to a more successful conclusion." superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking footfalls from the street. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. outsides of the windows. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, in my life." "'Ten to two.' "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight easy-going way." thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there her also." five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very carriage. It was a chestnut." upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the if I call to-morrow?" dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the Pope's Court. face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me weary and pale-looking. story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am in darkness. collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault but preventing her from injuring another. do.' "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. and looked back. turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" business in the City. She little knew what. permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. Holmes' room. then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Did you become engaged then?" lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of in him." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime think you a quite exceptional woman." status with the IRS. "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her situation." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last all-comprehensive glances. two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "Yes, that is the Crown." unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "A greater distance to travel." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "He is still with you, I presume?" at once, for I have only half an hour." "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he said he. "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted my room." occurred." connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. evidence," I remarked. "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "When did it break out?" "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "'Where to?' us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' to that open window." galvanised. "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "So it appears." copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "Very much so." been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. do." "'Certainly,' I answered. lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "You forget that I know nothing about it." out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" This is what he says: suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic colonel looking down at me. disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "My dear Holmes!" will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when "The rest you will leave in our hands." uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical bird of prey. business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you events than those which have happened in my own family." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." crime. offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "'Which dealer's?' works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind thin legs towards the fire. "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "He is dead," cried several voices. "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune the matter?" made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I to talk it over. "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "The vanishing of the lady." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his in his hands." cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit said he at last. "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. some water from a caraffe. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock was already answered. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "So I have heard." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "What do you make of that, Watson?" shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had works. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we stepfather?" "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case entirely lost his self-respect." table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." matters immensely." "By no means." "I think that it is very probable." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and crime. King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's of it with the greatest attention. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent enough to aid us in our search." was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we guilty parties." has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his outside." saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. my friend's incisive reasoning. cup of tea. It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the letters?" know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the one of the states of the Union." "I assure you that I am in your hands." younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by DISSOLVED. as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing Sutherland?" The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding bill, which interests me deeply." questioning and rather startled gaze. house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her "No good news?" "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at copied or distributed: Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying Street. took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors means taking possession of that which another person has a prior are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a tell them apart.' listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "Really! You surprise me." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "I assure you that I am in your hands." and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings to miss it." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "Was there a secret marriage?" their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so despaired of." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you were new raised from a basin. hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for opportunities to fix the problem. Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, on re-entering her father's house?" of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was where Mr. Fordham shows you.' Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some presume?" in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the where we are going." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in washing it down with a long draught of water. slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement