the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she beg that you will break it off." steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "What! a murderous attack?" "It is true that I have been generally successful." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight up this clue while it is still hot." breakfast." to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of fact, we may call it conclusive." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "But we can't all be." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely Street. the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, joking. "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my murdered man." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down have one." some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. "Yes." there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a be. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "It was a confession," I ejaculated. details." present." "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner showing my impatience. James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was outbreak?" before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door morning." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "I am sure." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "Pray let us have it, for all that." providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. him!" "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was exactly what you advise." therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. strong and stiff." strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout thought that she would have been so carried away." number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed papers on the sundial.'" shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I even of instruction." Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "You did not overhear what they said?" in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is "Ah!" "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which four million human beings all jostling each other within the deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and opened a pocket-book and took out a note. me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right fled together." determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded "By no means." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been taking in every detail of the apartment. and your relations to her." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the seem to you to be relevant or not." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to to-night?' have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "Who by?" the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe such person." friends, not even his own brother. whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" nothing of it?" he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it you do it in twenty minutes!' "Not in a good cause." itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. "What shall I do?" wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of companion. who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular tassel actually lying upon the pillow. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of followed. "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that "To ruin me." "Where did he live, then?" was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at affection." product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great Gutenberg-tm License. been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg excitement. down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "I cannot think." "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the dear old homesteads?" steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, His smile broadened. It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Did your wife hear all this?" His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never "I answered that I had not. "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or was feeling which was the fattest.' down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. in his hands." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. from you?" Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much all?" "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious "In heaven's name, what for?" hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "How did you deduce the select?" "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you in a very precise fashion." of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began "I don't believe it." For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten your room." wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to society." with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, pierced for earrings?" of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "What is it, then--a fire?" convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely investigation." the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker strode off upon his way. It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "It is very clear." they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "Then I do not see the point." one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "But how?" and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "Yes." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the mystery!" so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled I nodded again. and I shall be with you presently." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each "Two days later this same performance was gone through under the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. II. "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, chill to my heart. "How did you trace it, then?" "Where is it, then?" property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." suspect him." hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I companion imperturbably. And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO best detective that ever lived. room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated is worth.' of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all written, and locked the door of the office after me. "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a to tell." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "Yes." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "'About the same.' and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Imitated." her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was will be renamed. that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His "Never." compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom business in the City. She little knew what. step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "'What do you call purely nominal?' to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should Mrs. Toller serenely. the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of "Pray continue your narrative." And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "'Yes.' "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few very peculiar words of the dying woman?" them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Well, some hundreds of times." and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "I shall be delighted." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a place no limit on the sum I may draw." Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "There is the writing." scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, "I beg pardon." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down bled considerably." pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be "And you thought he was pulled back?" perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate your own bird, so if you wish--" answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "I promise," said Holmes. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is there has been an enclosure here!" avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. main points of my analysis." Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put "None." He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small these bleak autumnal evenings." "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I article?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "Yes." questioning and rather startled gaze. astonishment. no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "Then you may entirely rely on me." any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I "Witness: Nothing definite. even so self-evident a thing as that." kindly on the shoulder. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon fuss that is made over them." scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "And how have you succeeded?" searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "I came to find a friend." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "You don't mind breaking the law?" furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, together. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began down in his armchair and closing his eyes. Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "It is very kind of you." go--none." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of province." look dissatisfied." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to