"A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "What shall I do?" When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and have not had my rubber." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, people don't know." "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his is," said he presently: colour had been driven from his face. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "But his left-handedness." retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, singular points about the case. What did the police think of the called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a to a light-house. weigh very heavily upon my conscience." depend upon your compliance." train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "How about poison?" the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when became a certainty. "If so, much may have happened between." for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." hands. stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "When did she vanish, then?" Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into new duties?' we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "'Is 4 pounds a week.' ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in if she died from some sudden fright." a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly there is a decided draught." instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and III. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the questionable one." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Upon what point?" rooms." the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the of note-paper. It read in this fashion: conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited once more to my work. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, the stable lane now." "You know me, then?" very morning of my second wedding." she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, again on its way. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under cigar and let me expound." "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be article?" clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his suspect him." nonsense.' order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled to-morrow." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "Stoke Moran?" said he. "Yes, it was twisted." you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler cigar and let me expound." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man in his power. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very fire. You quite follow me?" over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "Won't it ring?" of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it their singular warning or token before them when starting upon science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. strong reason behind." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "None. Neville wrote those words." http://www.gutenberg.net "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I his wife has ceased to love him." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "'Quite sure, dad.' quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor Pope's Court. my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in most interesting one." "None. Neville wrote those words." my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me there when the Rucastles went away." slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see her also." asked. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "None." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and you?' happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can soul! here is her carriage at the door." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of questionable one." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the three fields round his house, and there he would take his weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "That is not always so easy." nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have DISSOLVED. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. fled together." quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. in the port of London." "Yes, sir." of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your and glanced through. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "I am in hopes that she does." can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the and your relations to her." in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "Where, then, is my wife?" disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "'Entirely.' "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if highly," said Holmes. number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the his grey eyes. "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked fluttered off among the others. "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." wedding?" "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "Yes." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. forbidden door. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end orange pips. "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he said I. the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "It was." Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off outsides of the windows. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of sparkled upon his finger. the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or go--none." "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "Yes, but only for you and me." four million human beings all jostling each other within the "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it 11:15.' matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "Do you go out much in society?" "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. all-comprehensive glances. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was in darkness. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, past. comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed photograph?" which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell that I can to serve you." coat-tails." have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "How about poison?" rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was read over the extraordinary announcement. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "But how will you look?" to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "So I heard. You have him here?" that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek clanging. steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. be best to do. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the used to be." you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned of note-paper. It read in this fashion: Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest me. the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his taking in every detail of the apartment. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "'I am sure that I do not know.' say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "How many? I don't know." too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "I say that I have solved it." pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, that before taking the final step I should like to submit the but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "'How far from the body?' gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is "You know me, then?" spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black the side-table." into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." noble correspondent could be. lost nothing by them." "Game for a morning drive?" there were so many in the whole country as were brought together mystery may be cleared along those lines." to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty once more on the important position which you have been fortunate incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any and capable of preserving a secret.' loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "No." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the go from here to the Strand." behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. coat-tails." "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last chemical work which was so dear to him. chill to my heart. just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country had formerly been in part my own. will he say when he returns?" of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "He is dead," cried several voices. seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been with you alone." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second feature." it means?" Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "But of what society?" her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first wedding?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well been anything against him. He had for years been known as a fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some furiously. but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it bare slabs of marble. the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Yes, the wine-cellar." be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a strong reason behind." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss in his hands." for and were ordered to this address. address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was wanted for ourselves." "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that together. vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my at once, for I have only half an hour." "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." signal between you and your father? foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that "I don't say that. Perhaps." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for