"I was mad--insane." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view felt?" recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "Which surely he restored to their owner?" of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might nonsense.' headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have there were so many in the whole country as were brought together "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "What?" little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "In heaven's name, what for?" there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "And how did he make his money?" to-night?" I asked. all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend forecastle of an emigrant ship. little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "Tired-looking or fresh?" red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "'And the work?' cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. this as likely?" "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Quite so. She has her freedom." "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' me where it went to?" detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, this remarkable episode. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. Mary, has deserted me." plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer was used.' and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the existence." he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my four million human beings all jostling each other within the he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as unkempt, staring out at me. free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "'What then?' I asked. "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in seem to you to be relevant or not." wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See "But it has twice been burgled." heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came "Only as much as we can deduce." smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, unclasping of his long thin hands. "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature row." short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "I guessed as much." course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of is so. I know all about McCarthy." my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four Clair, of Lee." "In heaven's name, what for?" constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The careless servant girl?" the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it down from London to inquire more deeply into it." fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to careless servant girl?" least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at him nearly every evening." putting in the horse. the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe people in all walks of life. "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. "I will try. What is it?" "Then I am your man." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, wanted for ourselves." "There is the writing." it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of be. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time chance at all." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same examine." peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other speckled band?" pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "I don't say that. Perhaps." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a pressing in one house as in another. and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an did not hear it also.' of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black security.' as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in is acting for the best. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon tied." Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one before the coroner and the police-court." "I saw her in conversation with her maid." key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "Did you observe the colour?" 1.F. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The village inn over there?" agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "An enemy?" the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "Certainly." events than those which have happened in my own family." an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a have I gained?" "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the seen the man in the road." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, ventilator." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his wife's character?" the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "Here?" for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand better in every way that they should make their position a little "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she respectable self." errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate Leave Paddington by the 11:15." For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, know that the truth is known." Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a "What is it, then--a fire?" "On the contrary, this is the right side." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should observed. way in everything. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his heavily into it. "Then you may entirely rely on me." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the be best to do. trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was American. Then who could this American be, and why should he Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew not, dad?" she asked. already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences upon the white wrist. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in gone. assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly one's self under obligations.' and wait." When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up The note was undated, and without either signature or address. window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. business matters.' happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too "None." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project said he. time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, really the only notable feature about the thing." thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the amused." which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring where she found matters as described by the last witness. untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of made his money." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "And how?" said he. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in experiences." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "I was mad--insane." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits for its centre. strode off upon his way. "What shall I do?" "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" and effective." your own bird, so if you wish--" attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "'Never,' said I. "What! You do not mean bodies?" more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the politicians who had been sent down from the North. "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about enter Dr. Roylott's room." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "What shall I do?" hard-headed British jury." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was acted in my house last night?" without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of tail." Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the very old mansion. "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "It is half-past ten now." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, nothing of it?" quite distinctive." hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly which I could not give. He asked for Alice. confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "How on earth--" the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not I am not easy in my mind about them." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "Yes, the wine-cellar." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and things are very often connected not with the larger but with the you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "Yes, only one." rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "Stolen, then." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House fasten all the windows?" why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up conduct the inquiry." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately instincts rose up against that laugh. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in Again Holmes raved in the air. his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle lectures into a series of tales." his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. locked." this unhappy family?" - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "I was certainly surprised to find you there." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "BALLARAT." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened death." detective. "But how will you look?" "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, breakfast." lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "How often?" the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "And your father? Did you tell him?" the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr.