tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America the bed, and you in that chair." short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "How did that help you?" man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety little adventures." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "Come in!" said Holmes. thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "Then I am your man." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest affection." him, that man would not have given me such complete information my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project "My own seal." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's http://www.gutenberg.net "I am all attention, madam." worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still appointment with me for six o'clock?" it were putty." one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf come either from the window or the door. My attention was in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "That also I could fathom." upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "No, I am descending." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of during which he might have communicated with his friend the Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "Proceed, then." question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "Yes, only one." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and again." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said American. Then who could this American be, and why should he fat-encircled eyes. This is what he says: police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in Serpentine Avenue. refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me helping a boy to put up the shutters. Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking said he. Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "The knees of his trousers." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a McCarthy." "It is true that I have been generally successful." the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "What! Had he lost his wife?" creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was you found me to-night--and running through the front room she the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid directors have had misgivings upon the subject." shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." later, upon the night of May 2nd." "No." Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "'Certainly not.' off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "And for present expenses?" vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year Cross for the Continent." state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. good for you to do.' for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, better in every way that they should make their position a little "He slept on the premises." "It is possible." "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "I answered that I had not. problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon the ceiling. front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." in a very precise fashion." I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which and effective." name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "Not in a good cause." of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "I cannot tell." there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but with some details as to your case." his eyes and forehead. was the fact that his father should, according to his account, in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a tell him that I know him to be innocent." touch that coronet?' he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." "I should be immensely obliged to you." her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so out." from you?" amused." money should be paid at once.' ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "And I say east," said my patient. word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door sofa. This way, please!" is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, burst out into a roar of laughter. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of chair. tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "Nothing." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "'A dozen yards or so.' The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was the best of training." appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of husband's writing, madam." the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "Never." the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you in the hope of finding them." "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "Have you it here?" "He slept on the premises." "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "At what time?" at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can acquaintance?" the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at "And what did you see?" the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of exactly what you advise." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "'What, the red-headed man?' see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "What have you to say now?" "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "Because he was handy and would come cheap." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told rat could hardly pass through." "Whose house is it?" astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "The rest you will leave in our hands." "She walked into the breakfast-room." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has vanished into the darkness. should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him brought there to personate someone, and the real person is There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "Was she in good spirits?" for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has conceal it?" "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "Was the window open?" "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "Ten will be early enough." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting future lives." "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid seem to you to be relevant or not." after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from to a more successful conclusion." Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at down from London to inquire more deeply into it." foresight and the moral retrogression?" up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he woman who has had her own way to make in the world. I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted "It is very kind of you." which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "I have my revolver," said I. chemical work which was so dear to him. housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily imbecility!" he cried. flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "Two days later this same performance was gone through under 'I should be able to look after that for you.' the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "What shall I do?" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "When did she vanish, then?" Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his that I may have something better before very many minutes are or other trace. But how on earth--" "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "My stepfather's business papers." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in the stable lane now." "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. with the outside air!" "You horrify me." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "Quite so. She has her freedom." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, pierced for earrings?" characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "No." "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence a little more before I quite committed myself. simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." garden below. rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view of them has the shutters up.' "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office rooms." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, morning." Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not without success. At last the little money which I had saved began for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an gbnewby@pglaf.org is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the these bleak autumnal evenings." possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. meanly of me." from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, investigation." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress my friend's incisive reasoning. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the look upon these things in a different way." sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must it." "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it own family. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home before the coroner and the police-court." his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much was a perfect sample of the class. '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." lost nothing by them." the warnings." position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and at a side door. considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the to-night." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was It may be so in this case, also." year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really of a light. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time into the bag, and made for the door. disturbance in my wife." fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of father's young wife. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him events than those which have happened in my own family." Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "The King of Scandinavia." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "Well." heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in have an American origin." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence the warnings." in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he who was a member of your goose club." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. "Did you observe the colour?" evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is matter." mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "In answer to an advertisement." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any because she had spent so short a time in this country that she and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some room?" "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. charged with?" half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in have had none more fantastic than this." it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man voice, changing her seat as requested. "Dirty?" that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "Always." the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and returning from some small jollification and was making his way keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the