through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. a few minutes he said that it would be all right. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" room had already been engaged for us. husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had locked." work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. your room." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without wife's character?" own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "Certainly." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "'I have already given you my word.' even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, daring than any effort of the imagination." presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right one else, I think." and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "That also I could fathom." "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a The events in question occurred in the early days of my waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to you want, then?' hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. "That also I could fathom." because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from once more on the important position which you have been fortunate ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of not come at once?" sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "I see many objections to any such theory." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "No more words. Get out!" often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. bare slabs of marble. habit of advancing money.' the best of training." "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have knowledge of the world." "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." to-morrow." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "Well, but China?" stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case felt the room to be a little close.' for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow to tackle the facts." direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence have not had my rubber." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me putting in the horse. pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" less than 26s. 4d. fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced miles off. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "I am about to be married." settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements Street. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the "You don't mind breaking the law?" bedroom door." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under an introduction to him?" And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." seem to you to be relevant or not." "How did you deduce the select?" "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "By no means." a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "And is that all?" from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, bearing upon the case." red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "Witness: It was. despair." alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Then, as to money?" occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much "But who is he?" away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my bird I ate is country bred." ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you opened the door, and slipped through. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it the child." have one." think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it presume?" the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the himself. inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned address. "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary "What!" he roared. "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. newspaper selections." "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual standing smiling on the door-step. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling troubles have been weighing upon his mind. in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of pity, because in other respects you would really have done very Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. "But how will you look?" never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at to affect your life." attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes "I will get her to show me." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not noble correspondent could be. his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "But how did you gain them?" conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "No." intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to garden below. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was the running down." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope begun to whiten, even as mine has." unkempt, staring out at me. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "No." the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may infinite languor in his face. He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a constraint." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, comes from the middle window." circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to Literary Archive Foundation had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable of this gang." "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking that threaten you." instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "May I see it?" however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "'Ample.' and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "It was a confession," I ejaculated. little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, name is different." coat-tails." would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "Well, but China?" If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. he died? "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me a room. room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become Holmes' room. Again Holmes raved in the air. and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it cause to be." finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained infinite languor in his face. the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may instituted." said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master face and glided from the room. Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "Did your wife hear all this?" English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which you in yours." as this. Pray let me have the details." unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. was a loud and authoritative tap. "And I." your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall my special province." not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was like that before?" "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have I am not easy in my mind about them." that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "Yes, at the mines." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in such person." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear that you saw all that I did." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which since then to throw any light upon what became of him." "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make handed it to him. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" late!' first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in Project Gutenberg-tm works. wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Then I can wait in the next room." stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would papers." your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted detained." "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "Frequently." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "Of Friday, June 19th." he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front pound a week." so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the it means?" would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, "Here?" ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE Clair, of Lee." was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the pictures, libraries, or plate. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "Breckinridge is his name." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the she to prove their authenticity?" downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Come in!" said he. "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began Edgeware Road. King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. power." outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis You want to know what became of those geese?" scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for do.' your co-operation." the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "This concluded the examination of the witness." "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was families. Now for the facts. "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. his wife has ceased to love him." "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and 'please.'" have an American origin." him. the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a hurried by. The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "By no means." machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice not use it unless it is absolutely needed." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that all?" lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the walking." "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I