any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about even of instruction." in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His might have a private word with us. body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly get her out of the way." myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can Leadenhall Street--and--" qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "I guessed as much." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my results." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little "Not I." thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "What can it mean?" I gasped. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "And I." enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the in. and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, quick march!" "'And what salary do you ask?' "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" away in different directions, and I went off to make my own a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a them present such singular features as the strange train of conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in beg that you will break it off." Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. most interesting one." affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman plantation.' and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of his eyes and forehead. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her my secret was safe in his possession. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune DAMAGE. used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward fashion which was peculiar to him. outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "The Coroner: What do you mean? you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon he bowed and left the room without another word. corner of the building. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "And how did he make his money?" stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular again before evening." following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord breakfast." if I call to-morrow?" likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I best detective that ever lived. have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the "Seven!" I answered. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all man. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine other lovers by making love himself." there has been an enclosure here!" the armchair which I pushed forward for him. one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "I shall most certainly do so." dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "He is still with you, I presume?" impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" during that time.' "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting just called myself is not exactly my own." Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "'Ample.' the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "You have a clue?" Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I likely to be some crony of the landlady's." buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "It is possible." the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of where Mr. Fordham shows you.' hands. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us your Highness to the police-station?" exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would swore that no one else had been in the front room during the Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her Leave Paddington by the 11:15." equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "May I see it?" seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay about. ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One best detective that ever lived. "10th. John Swain cleared. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "'Oh, no.' He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are exactly what you advise." than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, License. You must require such a user to return or "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a already been minutely examined." "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "So I have heard." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "A thing like a cleaver," said he. as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "But you would not advise me to refuse?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable you want, then?' "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could behind me. the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him seven miles from Eyford Station.' test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. matter." in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have client, rising. assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "I guessed as much." prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" conversation I have gathered that they have been married about some water from a caraffe. "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had posted to-day." "My dear Holmes!" "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in of Fenchurch Street." "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." for the market.' father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was constraint." of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "Well, but China?" "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the it. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. lumber-room." The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "'And the work?' accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to strength." through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are to have that photograph." room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated works. See paragraph 1.E below. she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her unprofitable." "No, I had a dozen." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." looking up at the numbers of the houses." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "Thank you. And your address?" had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "I am still in the dark." him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "Did your wife hear all this?" the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, little adventures." "And now?" He raised his hand. "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" "And the cigar-holder?" been able to understand it, in a very few words. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut him." following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come through." my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said chemical work which was so dear to him. know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." important." dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little cigar and let me expound." and effective." to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, with frightened eyes at his accuser. shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of crime." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Did your wife hear all this?" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "Yes, at the mines." fact, we may call it conclusive." agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom absolutely follow my advice in every respect." that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's "Ah, but I was recommended to you." He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their past. "And I say east," said my patient. succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself behind me. down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, highly," said Holmes. at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was any more." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "Then what has happened to him?" "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. "How can you tell that?" and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. on re-entering her father's house?" and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, Eyford at 11:15.' "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey again." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "It is his hat." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "Did you observe the colour?" fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid gone before you can get him to hospital." "'Then let me do so?' "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which opened a pocket-book and took out a note. at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "Very. But will he see it?" should be taken.' distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work forecastle of an emigrant ship. "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had his huge brown hands. particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have made him keep the appointment." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from really the only notable feature about the thing." "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found singular points about the case. What did the police think of the determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and "I will get her to show me." still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "A thing like a cleaver," said he. impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "Where is it, then?" dear old homesteads?" "'Most admirably.' "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in plantation.' of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "And why in hopes?" seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off "No, finished." "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to stood on the top of it. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was "Have you her photograph?" in a very precise fashion." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "My Mary? Impossible!" "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, footfalls from the street. other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon "Ah, but I was recommended to you." matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "'What are you doing there?' he asked. rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." see me here to avoid scandal." again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right "And what did you see?" "Will you bet, then?" have been better. It is all right." together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I