the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and yet." a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was infinite languor in his face. that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend little adventures." the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was unprofitable." hand, madam?" the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "What have you to say now?" on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable to his chemical studies. "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "Where did he live, then?" black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "Not social, then?" case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "Pray let us have it, for all that." quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the your troubles." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "And you don't know his address?" seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "'Tell me all about it,' said I. far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your where she found matters as described by the last witness. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an call for it in person on Monday morning.' old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. them, and came down just as you departed. withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want to a light-house. "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? out." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The eat it." signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, "What! You do not mean bodies?" be best to do. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been our word." horse could go." served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob any." why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the whereabouts. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by copied or distributed: general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' "I guessed as much." "Ah!" difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a 'I should be able to look after that for you.' there." promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind "Why did you pick him?" desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "Of Friday, June 19th." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the bears upon the case?" passage and a tap at the door. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "She will not sell." I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. call for protection in the marriage market, for the present Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest coroner's jury." The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in Holmes' face clouded over. of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "You have carte blanche." sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in Young McCarthy must be got off, however." smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten 1.F. We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." bonnet, and went out." Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "Yes." balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "'About the same.' in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, will not take me long to tell. be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, situation." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler papers on the sundial.'" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "Here?" Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then You can understand that this register and diary may implicate corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has and prosperity to your house. Good-night." hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered him." 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "What! Had he lost his wife?" strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "Yes, it was twisted." Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to three fields round his house, and there he would take his "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated depend upon your compliance." glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked the armchair which I pushed forward for him. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his you." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue your sleep?' forebodings. This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently she might be summoned. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would power." "It's nothing of the kind." fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as imbecility!" he cried. "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "Really! You surprise me." is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to his huge brown hands. "What of the rat, then?" turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of singular points about the case. What did the police think of the presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "Where did he live, then?" such person." going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." absolutely follow my advice in every respect." Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "We have tried and failed." passage and a tap at the door. "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a Serpentine Avenue. boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "Will you bet, then?" silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he delirious. "What of the rat, then?" may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to wall." travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the Farm upon the left." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, be sorry for having acted so harshly." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "Yes, all." fattened it expressly for you.' "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. imbecility!" he cried. to-night's adventure." array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "And it is--" into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "Yes, certainly." "Very truly yours, "None. Neville wrote those words." "'Very good.' "I am sure." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining train.' lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible "It is true that I have been generally successful." the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the spark where all is dark to me." "What of the rat, then?" we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing directly by questioning you." "'What, the red-headed man?' and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "I say it is." "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms politicians who had been sent down from the North. "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is this poor creature." agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if stood on the top of it. License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "It is solved." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them suspect him." shall not find me ungrateful." village inn over there?" coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I away in different directions, and I went off to make my own great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of system of imprisonment?" "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and other, as fresh and trim as possible. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the "I think that it is very probable." "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked nice household for a young lady." "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The forebodings. his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other be best to do. towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." which I could not give. He asked for Alice. be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three stood on the top of it. his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents "Why? What do you mean?" but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six the inner apartment." to-night's adventure." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "I see no marks." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as of." Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "That is also quite modern," said the lady. Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "And leave your case unfinished?" "I have come for advice." sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "Dr. Becher's." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our three fields round his house, and there he would take his as yours." age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "But what will you do?" Henry Baker is a member." wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her cup of tea. about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "Was there a secret marriage?" been anything against him. He had for years been known as a nights." and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in less than 26s. 4d. "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an "And what then?" absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a Clair, of Lee." "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only had this final quarrel? in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." fat-encircled eyes. among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond for the market.' fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. posted to-day." laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." "Yes, there are nearly always some there." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "Yes." dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a Street. there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to which was all perfectly true. "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, prisoner's face. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here been." and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is him." "And from a noble client?" a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned