"Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well in your London, you will know that the office of the company is satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun lumber-room." "Not particularly." thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" it means?" to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be Stoke Moran." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of said he. "The rest you will leave in our hands." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." to Leatherhead. "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which completely overtopped every other consideration that we both emerged. array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations already been minutely examined." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you cigars in the box." "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his ourselves in the office." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the me." into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad DAMAGE. of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what "But how did you gain them?" the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I amused." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "It came here." and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is in this way: which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are matter." glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see to-night." your Highness to the police-station?" from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." asked. upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the chair. bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I me." considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. writing, and yet I know it well." office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the DISSOLVED. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Ah!" to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. the matter?" Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "How did you trace it, then?" Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "We must have a cab." the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that Surrey." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left residence of the great financier. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in British peeress.'" so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied companion. a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but anything to a woman, for she would have her way." laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are round and wave him away like that.' "Well, but China?" "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and "What then?" "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate giving me time to thank him. "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant the inquest, and which are worth considering." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "Yes, he did." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel the loss of it. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I bare slabs of marble. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better awkward doing business with an alias." already referred to. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on prison!" glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Where is it, then?" "But his left-handedness." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out "I cannot tell." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "So it appears." income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "Never." left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable locked." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "It surprised me." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I danger is over." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He the south-west, I see." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not detective. things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Ample." "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something upon the sideboard." keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would kind enough to tell me what I should do." conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Never to return." "One horse?" interjected Holmes. instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another someone who had been in Australia." the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. laugh and put his lips to my ear. here and I will read it to you: you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general less than 26s. 4d. Lee, in the county of Kent." light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch believe that I should never have any practice at all. entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. people don't know." them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, For additional contact information: were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been asked with his eyes open. unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he me upon any point which I do not make clear." "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. key turn in the lock." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from "You were travelling in the States?" paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place with you alone." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, troubles have been weighing upon his mind. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from situation." by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest examination of the premises, but without finding anything which last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been be sorry for having acted so harshly." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second appointment with me for six o'clock?" "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am "Well?" to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "When did she vanish, then?" here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked such person." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have families. Now for the facts. know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most me have 200 pounds?' where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "But not more so than I to find you." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a already been minutely examined." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the Holmes." and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his are, I think, all that we need." shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of "Nor running a chance of arrest?" real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. your billet.' used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of the loss of it. room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father overpowering excitement and concern. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I nice household for a young lady." go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "How did that help you?" have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower chair. "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "BALLARAT." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It the station." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "Eh? What was that?" previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, come either from the window or the door. My attention was investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "Very murderous indeed." desk. "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you chemical work which was so dear to him. my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "But what harm can there be in that?" Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and congenial hunt. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first of note-paper. It read in this fashion: customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' before, for it was considerably after midnight. Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which as noiselessly as she had come. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "'Oh, no.' "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "So I heard. You have him here?" clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us now. It seems that there had been some informality about their silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the goes." is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid was lame." immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "Was your sister dressed?" Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped him to be an active member of the medical profession." "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the ourselves in the office." surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "How on earth--" despair." unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "I was afraid that you were engaged." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our come either from the window or the door. My attention was WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, man. I know him from the photograph." latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "Absolutely?" flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "Dark enough and sinister enough." taking in every detail of the apartment. "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he things are very often connected not with the larger but with the at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the kind enough to tell me what I should do." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, will be renamed. "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "I came to find a friend." chambers. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are I shall communicate with you." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His excitement. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" directly by questioning you." appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the experiences." "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, arrested. You then--" showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the you want, then?' and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from impression behind it as though a window had gently closed the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which