get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers minor matters until to-morrow." records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and the ceiling. science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" relation between them, and what the object of his repeated of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "Certainly." take the flies, but not before." passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of voice, changing her seat as requested. "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" get her out of the way." have I gained?" "So I have heard." recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a interest. They are important, you understand, without being weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of head. So long, then!" shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," little trying to do so much typewriting?" "Never to return." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest sofa. This way, please!" among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my voice. "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the I took the paper from him and read as follows: really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in guilty one." Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This at my remark. my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger already been minutely examined." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the amused." "But she will refuse." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day Does that suggest anything?" was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': vanished into the darkness. red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "The best possible." There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided "It came here." Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "That is it on the dressing-table." man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at Holmes' face clouded over. very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to maid will bring up your coffee." the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "Precisely so. But how--" fire. You quite follow me?" "What! Had he lost his wife?" "What do you mean?" "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which giving me time to thank him. "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his she to prove their authenticity?" railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "An accident, I presume?" of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "I was mad--insane." Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very other lovers by making love himself." might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "I saw her in conversation with her maid." frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "Of Friday, June 19th." "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. fatally injured? steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature The police have openly confessed that they can at present make breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with business." chemical work which was so dear to him. Holmes." "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your the best of training." be best to do. them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his upon the sideboard." "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon The summons was a brief and urgent one. the inner apartment." companion. large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "On your arm?" resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I man. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low the matter." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that evidence," I remarked. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always were wasted." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless with the outside air!" thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of made him keep the appointment." X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "How many? I don't know." him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "And now?" He raised his hand. Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the affection." "A confidential servant?" granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "And it is--" and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "But she will refuse." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "And leave your case unfinished?" opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few read over the extraordinary announcement. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "No, my brougham is waiting." just called myself is not exactly my own." characteristics, but those are the more obvious." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that article?" possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people "Not I." himself in a perplexing position. was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered bears upon the case?" so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of signal between you and your father? "How often?" American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the Clair, of Lee." with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "But what harm can there be in that?" unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the particular state visit http://pglaf.org "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing him to be an active member of the medical profession." "I have my revolver," said I. in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to October 9, 1890. what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "And the cigar-holder?" right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. that I can to serve you." unprofitable." people don't know." "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, with you?" "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "And the murderer?" he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "How are you getting on?" which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. "'No, I know no one in these parts.' this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. Street. Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "'There is a drive, then?' out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." "And you can do nothing until then?" knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge discontent upon his features. planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand flock.' someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his there!' Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in writing, and yet I know it well." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." towards the blaze. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." of your young ladies.' post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what ourselves in the office." reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "But your client--" the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The the Assizes." "Of Friday, June 19th." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a awaited us upon the table. paper in the air. some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by my special province." qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the "Here?" had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not always that they were such commands as a lady might with "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." Holmes. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "'Oh, no.' now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very works. old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer into the room. fait accompli?" my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make But Holmes shook his head gravely. room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I attention." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "But who is he?" Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. washing it down with a long draught of water. my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "It was an hour's good drive." "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it intimate personal affairs in this public manner." afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "Yes." "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have DAMAGE. in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears "How long did she speak to this Alice?" companion. shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a four million human beings all jostling each other within the with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey sneer upon his pale face. old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my status with the IRS. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, speckled band?" without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the business." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," British peeress.'" As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord,