"I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. of the efforts of the United States government and of the better has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' married her." "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of DISSOLVED. the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "Why? What do you mean?" unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "No." were wasted." week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "No." laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, I was concerned in it." life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "On the contrary, this is the right side." am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." character. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of to you." "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "None. Neville wrote those words." wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't "Yes." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid crowd. nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it details." the side-table." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "But it has twice been burgled." by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "'Where to?' "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. Mrs. Toller serenely. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "To ruin me." the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "By all means." was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer foot. pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Stolen." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my people in all walks of life. money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London shag which I had seen upon the previous night. much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, this poor creature." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We the side-table." mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "'I shall certainly be there.' have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' presume?" did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "But who is he?" "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive the child." shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon you understand?" possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "Dirty?" enough to aid us in our search." "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. them?" Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right "Come in!" said Holmes. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "How are you getting on?" half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, villagers almost as much as their master. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the seen the man in the road." and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle approach us with offers to donate. in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "Thank you. Pray proceed." perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "What can it mean?" I gasped. "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' meant it for the best. is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a daring than any effort of the imagination." "I will not look." the south-west, I see." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, very peculiar words of the dying woman?" kindly on the shoulder. "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital suddenly upon us." "Then, as to money?" bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to III. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent less than 26s. 4d. prepare for the new role I have to play." preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "I have hopes." singular points about the case. What did the police think of the first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER "'Stolen!' he cried. for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet them?" "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which more solid." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Dr. Gregory B. Newby down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been appointment with me for six o'clock?" and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, to-night?" I asked. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, I leave." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. my friend's incisive reasoning. "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that open." make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir infinite languor in his face. believe that I should never have any practice at all. bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the in my life." II. hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I should wish to." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "10th. John Swain cleared. hardly wander." But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. tightly behind him. cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it "I will, Miss Turner." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. chair. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "No, I am descending." you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have that he has suffered." then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "You did not overhear what they said?" "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one there when the Rucastles went away." "'Never.' her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while towards the blaze. "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "The knees of his trousers." that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into joking. quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have husband's writing, madam." nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "Yes." some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "'Yes.' snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "I have a cab outside." for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but guilty one." amused." round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "Indeed! Whose, then?" property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the again." will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own Stoke Moran." photograph a cabinet?" I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be to his chemical studies. "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle comes from the middle window." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have works. a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day learned something! Where are the gems?" inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the it." "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "She walked into the breakfast-room." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "Well?" "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in very old mansion. American. Then who could this American be, and why should he I held the little printed slip to the light. with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "And help." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "ARAT," I read. and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was looking up at the numbers of the houses." "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. upon a handsome competence. All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" presented which may be striking and bizarre without being knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or to some other building. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "'Certainly not. But why?' "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said fasten all the windows?" "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" examine." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon Where does the thing come from?' "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our you." on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen depend upon your compliance." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "One?" "Certainly, madam." "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which his forehead." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "Dirty?" other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he closing the door. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "Have you it here?" also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they the very morning of the wedding." "They are typewritten," I remarked. depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to approach us with offers to donate. to-night." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Nothing?" fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a