back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it help us in this matter." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for passage and a tap at the door. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. "And for present expenses?" devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey "It was." truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "'I have already given you my word.' friends, not even his own brother. into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to photograph?" with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which the iron safe, which he closed upon it. upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For photograph?" events, Mr. Windibank!" "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though washing it down with a long draught of water. of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of felt the room to be a little close.' for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to as he remarks, very much against the son." directors, with the result that you have seen." been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of round with crates and massive boxes. by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from over his head with a sweet womanly caress. borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' during the last few years, and there are many noble families to bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed "'Ample.' slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but new duties?' makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "Oh, the cause is excellent!" faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips 'I should be able to look after that for you.' "I cannot imagine." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or memory. and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" clang of the bell. "And why in hopes?" "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, of Fenchurch Street." I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "That you are never beaten." the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. "How on earth--" "Not in the least." glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in until night should bring an explanation. though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "Which are?" keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" "A thing like a cleaver," said he. as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom "Pray let us have it, for all that." "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through I am not easy in my mind about them." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "How can you tell that?" drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must daring than any effort of the imagination." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell the station." lamp. my room." upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the it." Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Yes, but only for you and me." "Did your wife hear all this?" "'Is purely nominal.' "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "Yes, from Horsham." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." closing the door. posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. minor matters until to-morrow." "You saw the ventilator, too?" Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the place of silver." for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, who was a member of your goose club." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. constraint." immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked strong and stiff." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had woven round him. Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting felt?" waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "And on what day did he meet his death?" impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." closely." the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "I will try. What is it?" in. hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' to-night?' "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "And what then?" few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a leave you to your papers for a little." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. habit of advancing money.' to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because skylight. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an away into the river." During two years I have had three consultations and one small "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of clanging. servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds might help us?" reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, desk. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had would then never go into court at all." fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of will be renamed. from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "They are typewritten," I remarked. that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a "'Certainly not.' over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled go from here to the Strand." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square you do it in twenty minutes!' "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a as he folded up the epistle. these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "But you would not advise me to refuse?" of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and James Windibank. Voilà tout!" the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. the date of his supposed suicide." hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "Yes." The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "What then?" upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. which was all perfectly true. to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "Very murderous indeed." Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow there when the Rucastles went away." hurried away. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his danger is over." address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, disturbance in my wife." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "And who is her maid?" "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "Certainly." habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time weapon." laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock "But what will you do?" been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her read it out to me." the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last ill-usage at the hands of fortune. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are pictures, libraries, or plate. Mrs. Toller serenely. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was his face. "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "Yes, they were peculiar boots." murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added you." child?' "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who overpowering excitement and concern. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." new acquaintance to Baker Street. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm charge against him will break down." "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; gentleman's clothes. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "He slept on the premises." and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." subject to the trademark license, especially commercial Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "It is a murder, then?" arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." American. Then who could this American be, and why should he expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. felt the room to be a little close.' his forehead." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers goes." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had some terrible trap for her." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "I shall be delighted." knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Yes, I have one waiting." Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. "I cannot imagine." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and direction." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "I will try. What is it?" very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "Upon what point?" the coronet at all injured?" bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "And leave your case unfinished?" "Frequently." "VIOLET HUNTER." I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay "Then he might have called to you?" copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but prove to be little relation between the different incidents of all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon conceal it?" life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "Upon what point?" clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped Mrs. Toller serenely. didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, "'How far from the body?' London for the present?" has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" interests were the same as his." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would The King stared at him in amazement. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted populous neighbourhood." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after you, my dear young lady?' after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I not, dad?" she asked. feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your recall any case within my experience which looked at the first must compliment you." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "He is still with you, I presume?" "Yes. He waved his hands." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing certainly do as you advise." interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Will you bet, then?" generous with you in money matters.' to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his "Ah!" "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the think that any burglar could have done. children over to America with him, so that I found myself without were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a