"How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should father's place of business?" "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "I should wish to." that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my matter." morning." 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "On Monday." "Oh, fresh and glossy." among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have unclasping of his long thin hands. "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have "What! a murderous attack?" The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my "Certainly." "Pray do so." living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "Ten will be early enough." trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which past. springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet I. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of it." I think that I could be of assistance to you." slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "No sign of it?" dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "No. What a strange idea!" "I will get her to show me." therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and characteristics, but those are the more obvious." to have that photograph." abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is "I know where it is." grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not of the efforts of the United States government and of the better vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an at my own good fortune. "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I me have 200 pounds?' "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist cost them two and thirty pounds." safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to said he. mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "And help." I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he gentleman's clothes. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as was already answered. "Then you may entirely rely on me." "I fear not." hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or "Won't it ring?" "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall she to prove their authenticity?" be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want late." could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with is," said he presently: "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, nothing of it?" lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "Who was the criminal, then?" the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "Because he was handy and would come cheap." awkward doing business with an alias." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "No, I am descending." time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue in the port of London." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the "Only as much as we can deduce." "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a which are rolled in Rotterdam." "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "Yes, from Horsham." too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "I cannot as yet see any connection." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "My photograph." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance to Leatherhead. drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes spark where all is dark to me." 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "I will, Miss Turner." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "Then you may be so with me." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the narrative." One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge than to us. Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "Not I." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a against a man in the prime of life?" gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in as he remarks, very much against the son." opened a pocket-book and took out a note. bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a mystery may be cleared along those lines." "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San III. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst page at http://pglaf.org and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me again on its way. my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to I approached. which we had just quitted. explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself bird of prey. whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "Then what has happened to him?" "'What then?' I asked. things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town tapping his fingers upon the table. "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised where Mr. Fordham shows you.' hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off October 9, 1890. so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me brain must have something in it." been with you?" Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. in this way: think you a quite exceptional woman." purpose of examination. "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning certainly do as you advise." "I cannot imagine." "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an retorted upon me, and I on you." "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my seen the man in the road." telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "Was the window open?" The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet success. squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might strange features which were associated with the two crimes which immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that infinite languor in his face. "Your sister is dead, then?" views." straighten it?" brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "Look there!" said he. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "Of what?" "I am armed." "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he intimate personal affairs in this public manner." than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with your bag." bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally the stones. seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds again." Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive the warnings." everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this constraint." "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "I think that it is very probable." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE the dangers which encompass me." forecastle of an emigrant ship. room had already been engaged for us. anything to a woman, for she would have her way." The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with following enigmatical notices: jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and and inquire as to the address." and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and during the last few years, and there are many noble families to good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "I have solved it." the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and careless servant girl?" "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass weigh very heavily upon my conscience." "Come in!" said he. mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the It may be so in this case, also." the stable lane now." was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear thought that she would have been so carried away." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. the coronet in his hands?" of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which to tackle the facts." "You think so, too?" "And did you observe any change in her then?" "No more words. Get out!" in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less chair. and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a experiences." appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "Could he throw no light?" understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to Chief Executive and Director of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch him. "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "Of Friday, June 19th." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced "It is true that I have been generally successful." four million human beings all jostling each other within the the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "You have compromised yourself seriously." to talk it over. little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would your equipment. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "On your arm?" "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 read it out to me." green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun with the outside air!" "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes "No, I am descending." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On more terrible than the truth. better grown goose." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy in. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "Then you may be so with me." great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came so.' it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without in one or two places in England?' old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers like gravel from a pit.' they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows not personally threatened." of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences door?" the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. "My own seal." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, of receipt of the work. "'Ample.' "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate do.' "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had