"Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, crackling voice. know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by the Red-headed League." "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "How can you tell that?" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "'You cannot say what it was?' the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in present strange and interesting features that it is no easy course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and indeed which he could not unravel. "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you kind enough to tell me what I should do." to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he roused himself from his reverie. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "In which, sir?" with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to bill, which interests me deeply." "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" the nursery. "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, appointment with me for six o'clock?" "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer fat-encircled eyes. happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "My opinion is in no way altered." remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. appeared upon the scene." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an know what is wrong with it.' about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate drove away. morning." brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "You have compromised yourself seriously." brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it brandy and water within his reach. companion imperturbably. lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. tail." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, lamp in his hand. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "The murder was done with it." and it need not interfere very much with one's other "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "A greater distance to travel." fire. You quite follow me?" and have this put in the evening papers." fact, we may call it conclusive." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in and I shall be with you presently." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in public press." promised to bring home. since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "In which, sir?" twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Yes, all." Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door dead, shall be safe with us." "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "Was he the only applicant?" coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "Was there a secret marriage?" there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is wedding?" In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you affection." "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not that the gas is not laid on in his house?" seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "A greater distance to travel." livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "But she will refuse." joking. was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his public press." do." however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me bedroom door." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I bonnet, and went out." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of shaken than I had ever seen him. he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective him and tried to hold him back. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said for its centre. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their row." centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made entirely devoid of interest." indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its future lives." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old I nodded to show that I had heard. bearing upon the case." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, foot. anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, at a side door. any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has relation between them, and what the object of his repeated her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would sufficient punishment." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs strode off upon his way. has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will later, upon the night of May 2nd." "That is it on the dressing-table." the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which to-night." adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "To ruin me." opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of from the brougham. trifles." "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under deduce something from that?" have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "It was an hour's good drive." "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If politicians who had been sent down from the North. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on in one or two places in England?' he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "Stolen." fat-encircled eyes. robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "Then I do not see the point." was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "That is not always so easy." hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no strode off upon his way. "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." quite distinctive." "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "In San Francisco, a year ago." it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in corner of the building. been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. which it had come upon my father." probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" there when the Rucastles went away." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear "Certainly." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "Proceed, then." The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I been anything against him. He had for years been known as a ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "That is also quite modern," said the lady. the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather absolutely follow my advice in every respect." this remarkable episode. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan narrative." analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his because she had spent so short a time in this country that she seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary gives a meaning to it." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "A thing like a cleaver," said he. Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager certainly not very gracious." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them is now desirous of getting those letters back." already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The woman." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his The King stared at him in amazement. little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed back into the street. Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked up this clue while it is still hot." grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This as this. Pray let me have the details." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of written. beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." During two years I have had three consultations and one small "And on what day did he meet his death?" depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of done what I asked you, Jones?" brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she sentimental considerations in the background which would induce those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the States. to go into your room and bar your shutters?" "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "And why?" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen http://www.gutenberg.net position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "And how?" was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "'And the work?' pierced for earrings?" eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' "Game for a morning drive?" at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by down. not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, weighed down with some great anxiety. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "ARAT," I read. yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "It is possible." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "The gentleman I describe." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in someone who had been in Australia." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never been with you?" "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am shall not find me ungrateful." whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which charged with?" passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we "You are hungry," I remarked. poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "'It is locked up,' I answered. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he strength." simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Yes." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was as yours." nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already the tragedy. double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked letters?" or other trace. But how on earth--" peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving quick march!" "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "No." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I hereditary King of Bohemia." key of the affair now." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my Again Holmes raved in the air. "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "Certainly." "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." might help us?" have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "And now?" I asked. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "VIOLET HUNTER." deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. in this note: matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "But of what society?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found one's self under obligations.' "Dirty?" rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I four million human beings all jostling each other within the they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all father's young wife. remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the plantation.' problems help me to do so." to that open window." Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a to his chemical studies. 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he said I. delirious. upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "No, I think that I'll take it." "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that London for the present?" grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "Awake, Watson?" he asked. the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in I am not easy in my mind about them." rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and thin legs towards the fire. habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his "Then how many are there?" with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike himself to tell his story. "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew