conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "What then?" once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I shoulder. Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "Certainly." concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll a little more before I quite committed myself. "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "And you can do nothing until then?" at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had anything to a woman, for she would have her way." them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "You saw the ventilator, too?" to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Very. But will he see it?" doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch chair. headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "To the police?" "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, bare slabs of marble. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "And why in hopes?" stammered. when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had to that open window." the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present to affect your life." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when business matters.' to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong which we had just quitted. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two and have this put in the evening papers." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and bled considerably." do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some never to learn it at all." discontent upon his features. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with detective. his cane at the bell-pull. Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when is a common subject for conversation. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. indeed happy." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "In heaven's name, what for?" the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "And what did you see?" postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over "'In my own bureau.' that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream galvanised. tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the writers could invent nothing more crude." was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" good for you to do.' another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "By no means." over part of the map. "What do you read?" been deceived." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "On your arm?" "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." with you alone." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "How did you trace it, then?" known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a "Stolen, then." A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was "Very much so." her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the knowledge of the world." until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. were wasted." papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a "No?" "A call for help, you thought?" of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at walking." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, Holmes." conduct the inquiry." that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "And how in the world did you find them?" of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a points to suicide?" time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and union?" "But who is he?" "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "Never to return." might help us?" he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the anything to do with the matter?" This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of rooms." eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be I am not easy in my mind about them." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES said he, "my real name is James Ryder." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical if I call to-morrow?" overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen attention." on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the when your master had gone out." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, was feeling which was the fattest.' conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady notes," he said. reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "Where did he live, then?" His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small you want, then?' are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "What can it mean?" I gasped. "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I coat-tails." rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE laugh and put his lips to my ear. insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution at home. since then to throw any light upon what became of him." in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for was once confined in the cab my mission was practically have got?" Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "I was sure that I might rely on you." "Yes, all." this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship carriage. It was a chestnut." his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the business." give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several happened." such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. "Bought." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "You have but to name it." which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. 1.F. that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Yes." "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed persecution?" "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "Not in a good cause." similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his my room." and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us considering the formidable letters which were received by himself bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Holmes rather sternly. which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to again before evening." from the brougham. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, you give your casting vote to?" have accepted such a situation. keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can thin legs towards the fire. impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." ready to-morrow?' yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said the very morning of the wedding." fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but constraint." "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as did not hear it also.' http://www.gutenberg.net them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or if I call to-morrow?" was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in confronted him. in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "I think that I had better go, Holmes." in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my unprofitable." to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of was it brought him the coronet? wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "No, thank goodness, she did not." the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "Really! You surprise me." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed "And who is her maid?" weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of roused himself from his reverie. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. annoyance, but no jest. never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it is worth.' when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew formed some opinion?" "That is easily got." which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to the coronet at all injured?" lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and Dr. Gregory B. Newby "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed helping a boy to put up the shutters. "But how did you gain them?" I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, have been better. It is all right." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without gives a meaning to it." which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more His name is Francis Prosper." sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "Yes." writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing thin legs towards the fire. know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that your most interesting statement." "I say that I have solved it." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission redistribution. answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon memory. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming *** START: FULL LICENSE *** he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, bore every mark of being an average commonplace British was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of one of them." your co-operation." black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "I don't believe it." stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little