shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one easy-going way." "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "Ah!" "I have seen the police." active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "You heard nothing yourself last night?" wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three chance." or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred enter into my head. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the cigars in the box." it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "You know me, then?" were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to galvanised. John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age Sutherland. the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "What of the rat, then?" "And how did he make his money?" you." prepare for the new role I have to play." other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I which we had just quitted. case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had furiously. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "I saw her in conversation with her maid." so.' Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let gone before you can get him to hospital." him." himself. a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the considering the formidable letters which were received by himself to arrive at through this?" see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I nonsense.' "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the absorbing." "Of what?" almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question if only as a check to my own memory." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner your bag." force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after official police." from you?" the very letters. But what is this written above them?' a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have roused himself from his reverie. "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "What shall I do?" Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for o'clock is it?" "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "'I have heard so.' By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that written, and locked the door of the office after me. confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a side. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, over part of the map. "What do you read?" minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "At what time?" call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman in one or two places in England?' and laid it on the table. both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "How often?" beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes carpenter." "Yes, at the mines." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found your own bird, so if you wish--" this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear beyond words. official police." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses shoulder. "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, "Never." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "Why, it's a dummy," said he. morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "None. Neville wrote those words." look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." individual and becomes the badge of a society." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope appeared upon the scene." "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "But he might be a bachelor." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of searched, without anything being found which could incriminate forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then towards the blaze. forbidden door. "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "I promise," said Holmes. was keenly on my guard against him. few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "'There is a drive, then?' said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to that you wished to speak to me?' walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared there." in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked joking. him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered records." "Was she in good spirits?" wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in forecastle of an emigrant ship. "How did he come?" placed his cuttings. story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "Yes, it would be as well." ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "Then you may be so with me." heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather relief. that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face 1.E.9. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed placed his cuttings. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the promised to bring home. vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about simple cases which are so extremely difficult." and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a the Red-headed League." question," said Holmes, smiling. always that they were such commands as a lady might with "He might." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, asked. "'Where could I find him?' "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "A greater distance to travel." "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "What is it?" "It is no ordinary one." never will be, entirely cleared up. "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor shag which I had seen upon the previous night. "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "But you have hopes?" bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "Her father is very rich?" "He disappeared so suddenly." "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "I guessed as much." silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "Then, how do you know?" "You did not overhear what they said?" "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "Yes, I have one waiting." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "So I heard. You have him here?" "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other best detective that ever lived. money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and "So it appears." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He o'clock is it?" transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a main points of my analysis." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that there!' window when the police appeared." inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, his wife has ceased to love him." "Never." a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I cigars in their mouths. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he the side-table." "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "You think so, too?" "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag amused." "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and him nearly every evening." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my begun to whiten, even as mine has." Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "Yes, he did." companion quietly. "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I with you?" the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may thirty. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making him!" the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "Yes." meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "May I see it?" something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? from the brougham. self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding sake, don't!" instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of it." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I been able to understand it, in a very few words. "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to power." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, to you." Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down a room. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "Murdered?" "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. present strange and interesting features that it is no easy more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never a very grave face. back to my heart. Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he was not a bird to be seen there. "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free."