dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately 11:15.' official police." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much lips." professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate of campaign. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "Very murderous indeed." can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the "Then I shall certainly come." moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his I. "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of "By all means." and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the Holmes' thin, eager face. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "'Oh, no.' high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about furiously. 1.F. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "'I am sure if I had known--' all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she awaited us upon the table. gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black in. "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "That is it on the dressing-table." "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My over here." to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "Of what day?" locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal was once confined in the cab my mission was practically impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." "What I expected to see." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "Perfectly so." Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the spark where all is dark to me." a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were there has been an enclosure here!" I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a you in your example." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were useful material for showing traces. The double line a little THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "There is the writing." and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me "Yes." pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent before, for it was considerably after midnight. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I call for it in person on Monday morning.' and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of interests were the same as his." him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his that I can to serve you." fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "Eh? What was that?" ago." "Bought." nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a bird I ate is country bred." shoulder; "he's all right." "That is also quite modern," said the lady. where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." placed his cuttings. "We have tried and failed." of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "Why did you pick him?" hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "What will you do, then?" "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "Thank you. Pray proceed." what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point followed. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "Was she in good spirits?" quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "And when will you call?" threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "I am all attention, madam." dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other me where it went to?" the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would be best to do. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my some water from a caraffe. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to very morning of my second wedding." however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local heavy and sharp instrument." word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" "Have you it here?" one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we few hundred pounds.' mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately that the gas is not laid on in his house?" from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some when you have done it." all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, thirty. "And your mother is alive?" "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "But you can know nothing of this?" correct than the official force." sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four away to you." already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "No, my brougham is waiting." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was "Precisely so. But how--" "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "What steps will you take?" I asked. It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the the south-west, I see." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "I was afraid that you were engaged." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, something of him before." "I am armed." and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that you in your example." pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "'Certainly,' I answered. "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always second." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting Sutherland?" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I shoulder. greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of strong and stiff." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "Dirty?" ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your crowd. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a the night.' for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock wanted for ourselves." there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. which are rolled in Rotterdam." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate status with the IRS. might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me present." what these perils are?" "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt nonsense.' money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "But I have heard all that you have heard." case before our client came into the room." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "That you are never beaten." hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Well, it is a possible supposition." age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have narrative." among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "And help." weapon." "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds acted in my house last night?" as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." formed some opinion?" surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned voice, changing her seat as requested. question," said Holmes, smiling. set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" in the hope of finding them." "What is it, then--a fire?" the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to might help us?" very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." unprecedented a position." "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left forecastle of an emigrant ship. the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "'Certainly not. But why?' to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. the side-table." ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the respectable self." His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it his face which made him a very different person to the round, and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty himself to tell his story. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was three of the beryls in it, was missing. posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), "'There is a drive, then?' the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever said I. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "None." is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." back alive. but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "'Where could I find him?' "His face fell immediately. see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is upon the sideboard." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "It was." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum strange features which were associated with the two crimes which ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about companion. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis presented which may be striking and bizarre without being frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold make me his representative both with the servants and with the PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To already referred to. was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "Where, then, is my wife?" Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted see me here to avoid scandal." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all and wait." appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the "Not in a good cause." discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & tell him that I know him to be innocent." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "Oh, yes, easily." week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George heavily into it. pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' results." "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be awkward doing business with an alias." clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my which was all perfectly true. she slowly sank and died without having recovered her I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to conceal it?" moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the from the brougham. your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature I am not easy in my mind about them." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in from you?" "It is to him that this trophy belongs." have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "Your presence might be invaluable." bachelor.' out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them ready to-morrow?' You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there undoubtedly my uncle's." Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never and the whole place is in a blaze." "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal reach." at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, him, that man would not have given me such complete information "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "The landlord of the Alpha." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "I was sure that I might rely on you." fuss that is made over them." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "If so, much may have happened between." at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "None." when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and "Always." There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he in one or two places in England?' "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "You have compromised yourself seriously." "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that