I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I key of the affair now." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "How on earth--" Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If is four-and-twenty." coroner's jury." sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "How do you know, then?" "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and that before taking the final step I should like to submit the so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a one or two very singular points about this room. For example, in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new carried out of court." business came to an end." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." on in his house." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his said he, "my real name is James Ryder." I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather meant it for the best. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "An accident, I presume?" rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." "Yes, I have one waiting." "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me his eyes and forehead. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, business matters.' "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I and that he would see to anything that turned up. have established a very serious case against the son of the you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "At the wedding breakfast." was lame." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry putting in the horse. said I. "Then, as to money?" fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "On Monday." long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "And on what day did he meet his death?" but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must read it out to me." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "'Why that?' I asks. families. Now for the facts. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he III. "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured it." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who tail." "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her to tell." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her singular points about the case. What did the police think of the in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little already referred to. said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to people don't know." among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible get her out of the way." "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of strange features which were associated with the two crimes which upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much about. confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "I shall be delighted." St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in thirty. shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I "It came here." a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "Did you observe the colour?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." this Miss Turner." possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his directors, with the result that you have seen." purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal down. The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no you, my dear young lady?' now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few the devil!" kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "'I am sure if I had known--' I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, newspaper selections." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." guilty parties." her also." mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole it." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet recall any case within my experience which looked at the first the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of it were putty." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. "Thank you. Pray proceed." Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in criminal. We have already had experience of such." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "But it has twice been burgled." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar had a long day." girl said." turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "I do." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "Eh? What was that?" "'Yes, sir.' pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather without success. At last the little money which I had saved began "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my murdered man." a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which detective. imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." and no precautions can guard against." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other mystery!" have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able it." really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed place of silver." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "'In my own bureau.' my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set breakfast and whispered something to her husband. gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in room had already been engaged for us. "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "'Entirely.' "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and was once confined in the cab my mission was practically yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my thought that she would have been so carried away." bill, which interests me deeply." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her shaken than I had ever seen him. "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: chemical work which was so dear to him. brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he astonishment. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch down from London to inquire more deeply into it." greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "What can you not understand?" experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the had picked up in the wood. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "But she could not love him." The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited his face which made him a very different person to the round, the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of sneer upon his pale face. "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are anything to a woman, for she would have her way." The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Not in the least." "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "How can you tell that?" of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Not in a good cause." "Was the window open?" "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "Nothing." The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. "But how could you guess what the motive was?" upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, to Leatherhead. these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "No." congenial hunt. open." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you forehead. by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like my former friend and companion. little adventures." whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End maid will bring up your coffee." provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you Does that suggest anything?" deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his and shall probably return to London by the evening train." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "No, but the enclosure is." Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by cause to be." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Ample." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the "'And what salary do you ask?' his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying unkempt, staring out at me. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "Then you may be so with me." With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "No." "And when will you call?" business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been that he has suffered." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, thirty. and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" house for five minutes.' "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "Married! When?" whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the pierced for earrings?" peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "Two days later this same performance was gone through under be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the What do you deduce from it?" Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the page at http://pglaf.org just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more soul! here is her carriage at the door." warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be me." the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire chance at all." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other one else, I think." should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of The King stared at him in amazement. vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that weighed down with some great anxiety. and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of Dr. Gregory B. Newby