"Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "Yes." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a happened." caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "Of what?" "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "No bad?" he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is remarked. examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. assist you in forming an opinion." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." Does that suggest anything?" "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. waste of energy." In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "What of the rat, then?" "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled to surprise her." "That is easily got." prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my bore every mark of being an average commonplace British "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "Yes, from Horsham." ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the had formerly been in part my own. "On Monday." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than is worth.' easy-going way." been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "The murder was done with it." mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been than to us. "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to of his shoulders. "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' too. inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "'No, I know no one in these parts.' and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he me." "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other not within a twentieth part of the market price." will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself "You forget that I know nothing about it." fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you locked. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that prisoner's face. Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did I held the little printed slip to the light. thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "Yes." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," The summons was a brief and urgent one. comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "I am in hopes that she does." imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the Leave Paddington by the 11:15." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was purpose of examination. in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was outside." Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him country, and eventually married, without anyone having a which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other o'clock is it?" events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great "Never." the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one to have that photograph." upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of ceremony." manager. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "There are none." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "Very truly yours, are, I think, all that we need." which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the that you wished to speak to me?' "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "My stepfather's business papers." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his for its centre. to miss it." sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, I took the paper from him and read as follows: main points of my analysis." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "How are you getting on?" he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "And what then?" "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "Quite so. She has her freedom." because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for least a fellow-countryman. sake, don't!" week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO 'I should be able to look after that for you.' asked with his eyes open. "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from the night.' "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The morning." Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for six. Come in!" here." would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." husband's writing, madam." the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the husband's writing, madam." "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE feature." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' "But you were on a friendly footing?" "My dear Holmes!" partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "Look there!" said he. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, six. Come in!" "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I for its centre. him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "Can I be of assistance?" upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the This is what he says: "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a the coronet at all injured?" paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "He is dead," cried several voices. table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the said he at last. of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have conceal it?" ill-usage at the hands of fortune. views." point in the dark hollow of his hand. thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "No, I am descending." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door third from London." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the "You horrify me." other, as fresh and trim as possible. old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "None." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and where Mr. Fordham shows you.' road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, this poor creature." Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of one of them." a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "I cannot think." had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as The summons was a brief and urgent one. month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the affair. "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. chance at all." about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my guilty parties." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are this truth that in these little records of our cases which you asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Your French gold?" have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "Not social, then?" "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part nothing of it?" "No, I am descending." lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "That was it, sir." think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child daring than any effort of the imagination." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "You are certainly joking, Holmes." helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "I will try. What is it?" "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in that stalked out of the room. man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. said he at last. the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as the matter?" Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking "And how did he make his money?" the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "But how will you look?" dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "'Not at all. I only doubt--' in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was that?' About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and have had none more fantastic than this." a very grave face. always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its joking. the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their business came to an end." for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her affair. flock.' the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been hands. "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way beyond words. "Where to?" a good hundred miles off by now." "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried have I gained?" would apply.' to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in Serpentine Avenue. Holmes. morning." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, coat-tails." silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on his knees, staring into the fire. "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that digesting their breakfasts at home." lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another "It surprised me." I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" "'Never.' will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San he. his forehead." overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" that there was nothing in it, after all." association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate was a perfect sample of the class. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in them?" cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' ashen face. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "'And what salary do you ask?' felt the room to be a little close.' "A client, then?" "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "Did you become engaged then?" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and Mrs. Toller serenely. "On Monday." "By train from Waterloo." chemical work which was so dear to him. "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps morning." in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. himself in a perplexing position. including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking the station." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, front of the hall door has given its name to the place. shall not find me ungrateful." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the address. explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "Quite so. She has her freedom." this remarkable episode. "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. "'Certainly not.' folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during back to my heart. fact, we may call it conclusive." is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the was keenly on my guard against him. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away what these perils are?"