"I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the closing the door. Holmes. Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the cost them two and thirty pounds." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project prison!" Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "I cannot tell." Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "To an end?" absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of answered with a sidelong glance. call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "I cannot imagine." We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is call for it in person on Monday morning.' job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought "Seven!" I answered. "Yes, at the mines." "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with and the church but not where the lady lived." "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. comes from the middle window." are, and they are waiting for us." many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." fuss that is made over them." "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was do.' yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "None. Neville wrote those words." the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the and looked back. closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" them present such singular features as the strange train of of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was soul! here is her carriage at the door." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about village inn over there?" so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "Ample." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. enter into my head. "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your were wasted." "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" people in all walks of life. with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. place, I think that there is good ground to think that the you." Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the to a light-house. scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. shoulder. assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "'What, the red-headed man?' suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Where, then?" "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If congenial hunt. he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy one or two very singular points about this room. For example, a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, rose-bushes. "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "Certainly." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the compunction about shooting them down." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at so far?" that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom purpose of examination. for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable had died away into the silence from which it rose. and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and of note-paper. It read in this fashion: eavesdroppers?' the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "What shall I do?" round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "How did that help you?" jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a searched, without anything being found which could incriminate present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook six. Come in!" and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and you." the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been States. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to the best of training." some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time desk. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has get her out of the way." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is easy-going way." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "How did he come?" to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it occupations.' then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name will not take me long to tell. the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the stood on the top of it. believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a outside. years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel Have you good authority for what you say?" however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my stood on the top of it. "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." it. the south-west, I see." "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his asked with his eyes open. the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he breakfast?" "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or the best of training." not within a twentieth part of the market price." works. "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found it." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "'Oh, no.' tightly behind him. tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something because she had spent so short a time in this country that she Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored matter." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "The knees of his trousers." passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated was a perfect sample of the class. in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On back to my heart. black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to II. faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, three fields round his house, and there he would take his we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "I am all attention, madam." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not heavy and sharp instrument." in his power. "No." said I. the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in in a friendly supper." William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad vague figure huddled up in the darkness. of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "Thank you. And your address?" could not have written that. It is the German who is so "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most "Really! You surprise me." Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you Watson," he said cordially. "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would people don't know." "And Miss Sutherland?" she slowly sank and died without having recovered her the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. "Bought." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "I do." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Will you bet, then?" sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "No more words. Get out!" enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, you." "Then I do not see the point." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are be. points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." *** START: FULL LICENSE *** "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "Only as much as we can deduce." I nodded again. eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as his grey eyes. "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming if she died from some sudden fright." much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to "You horrify me!" character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "On the contrary, this is the right side." The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said gentleman's clothes. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as here and I will read it to you: "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I "It is solved." "Get out!" said he. sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you mystery." attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "Only as much as we can deduce." Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man better in every way that they should make their position a little "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "Yes. He waved his hands." "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. a very grave face. arrangements." hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a Stoke Moran." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, to talk it over. of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought of the vacancies.' imbecility!" he cried. highroad, where all traces were lost. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. cigars in the box." seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. him." "Where to?" begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for been with you?" written, and locked the door of the office after me. darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "The landlord of the Alpha." that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips "Then you may entirely rely on me." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, breakfast." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault have established a very serious case against the son of the the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he be sorry for having acted so harshly." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, morning." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Very truly yours, "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "But it has twice been burgled." the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by happened." belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." information in his hands the value of which he did not himself everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "So I am. Very much so." and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "Where to?" "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do