the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I fasten all the windows?" "I am armed." determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back come either from the window or the door. My attention was Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where help us in this matter." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my believe that I should never have any practice at all. definite end. for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith colour had been driven from his face. himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "But his left-handedness." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself of them has the shutters up.' sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood were wasted." more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to said he, "my real name is James Ryder." you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a will find little credit to be gained out of this case." my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal strength." petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "Did he not advertise?" Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, works. See paragraph 1.E below. between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? enough to aid us in our search." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "Do you know him?" "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael fattened it expressly for you.' Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "She told me to ask you." "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "No bad?" my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "'Certainly,' I answered. his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "'You cannot say what it was?' despair." is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the the loss of it. registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her was already answered. "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for quick march!" surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "No." that I may have something better before very many minutes are "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. new duties?' Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "And help." eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "No bad?" than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought to affect your life." from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "Precisely." single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. page at http://pglaf.org stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "On the contrary, this is the right side." one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that discontent upon his features. but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "It is to him that this trophy belongs." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great your most interesting statement." will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon even so self-evident a thing as that." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about legal crime." eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "'Oh, no.' learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My get her out of the way." "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine detained." like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. your bag." "Deserted you?" Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down made him keep the appointment." the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King and a shock of very red hair. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. think, you have already met." furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it of his shoulders. him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a is entirely a question of barometric pressure." mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love this unhappy family?" which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has there in twenty minutes." rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "The decline of his fortunes, then?" have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "My stepfather's business papers." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I ourselves in the office." conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after train.' bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than humiliation." crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "'Yes, sir.' congratulate you again." said he at last. "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. think that he is innocent?" "No, I had a dozen." excitement. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to without a word or a look. delirious. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, said Mr. Holder. "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been "One of his hands." "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "But he might be a bachelor." not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "Where did he live, then?" any." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing main points of my analysis." whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the sound at heart." just ask you whether you had heard it.' "My dear Holmes!" the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and for its centre. business at Coburg Square is serious." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice discontent upon his features. blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend room?" stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, morning." also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they new duties?' "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." the coroner come to?" despair." condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. "When did it break out?" Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, http://www.gutenberg.net purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "And why?" very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a "How do you know, then?" look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "Yes." advice." 1.F. villagers almost as much as their master. back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may tell me that you intended to go into harness." "It is very kind of you." cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! union?" He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to problems help me to do so." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "I think that I had better go, Holmes." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, the one as in the other." information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to meant." "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had bears upon the case?" January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and tapping his fingers upon the table. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "Nothing." "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two and wait." sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." there in twenty minutes." be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. meanly of me." of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally delirious. when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." gives a meaning to it." to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I your room." upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell papers." "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up I have it here in my museum." Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a my friend's incisive reasoning. "Ha! you find it so?" "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "But what harm can there be in that?" for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! and no precautions can guard against." I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow at my own good fortune. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "It missed him, then?" leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were do you make of it all?" have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "By all means." "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the "Precisely." with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and father's young wife. What do you deduce from it?" I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for "In the cells." go--none." impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer leave you to your papers for a little." may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any said he at last. spare." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "You think so, too?" the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or out of this horrible affair." "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "What, then, did Peterson do?" fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual such person." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of when you have done it." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "Proceed, then." King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered there!' his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly upon the sideboard." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did which are rolled in Rotterdam." me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case to arrive at through this?" "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as "'Yes, sir.' Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "You have a clue?" soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to had died away into the silence from which it rose. result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. of his shoulders. "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "Pray let us have it, for all that." of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in other lovers by making love himself." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, highly," said Holmes. "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat three of the beryls in it, was missing. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. very morning of my second wedding." confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. October 9, 1890. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Have you her photograph?" "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. of campaign. He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "I think that it is very probable." dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full enter Dr. Roylott's room." question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? is so. I know all about McCarthy." as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and