fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "By train from Waterloo." It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "But his left-handedness." foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind ceremony." from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "It is possible." "I came to find a friend." that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front past. "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "Yes." "What!" he roared. all?" only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a Miss Holder?" pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "Where is it, then?" "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "Precisely." indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "I saw her in conversation with her maid." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "Married! When?" "Then the page we have seen--" "His face fell immediately. our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "And is that all?" it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my the dangers which encompass me." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly note?" Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. off." his eyes and forehead. twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers "I think it very unlikely." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the electronic works "Was there a secret marriage?" charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a ran thus: though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. "And it is--" once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Could he throw no light?" "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working brain must have something in it." story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an down. "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution chair. it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present the running down." States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a written. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that against a man in the prime of life?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" not come at once?" matters immensely." strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: awaited us upon the table. "The doctor?" "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more questioning and rather startled gaze. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the stammered. the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed States. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "You have the photograph?" "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she "How are you getting on?" observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt signal between you and your father? near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say of Fenchurch Street." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your hurried away. therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double the bed, and you in that chair." "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, true." is now desirous of getting those letters back." for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. "The gentleman I describe." with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. "He slept on the premises." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was that you can jump it.' so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I promised to bring home. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose I shall communicate with you." scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." go back?" broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the "At half-wages, in fact." One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle manager. of Mr. Rucastle's." grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. I held the little printed slip to the light. 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one I nodded again. knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon ran thus: "Awake, Watson?" he asked. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At third from London." "I do." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his occurred." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "But you would not advise me to refuse?" you, my dear young lady?' "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was that threaten you." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a sake, don't!" Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is handed it to him. in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the writing, and yet I know it well." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how "By all means." "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain of campaign. but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the happened." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a he died? "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It bled considerably." met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire emerged. make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. me. You must get home instantly and act." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "And your father? Did you tell him?" may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be chemical work which was so dear to him. flock.' trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton papers." "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it himself to hunt down. in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, DISSOLVED. always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's trying to your nerves." Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at it means?" face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, papers diligently of late, have you not?" closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. in a friendly supper." pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now the general public were present, then?" had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. you." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, within hail.' "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which used to be." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his events than those which have happened in my own family." "I guessed as much." gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an "Perfectly so." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of friend's singular character. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "I don't believe it." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "That's no good." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. and all of them with the keenest interest. Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, cigars in the box." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his such person." appeared upon the scene." "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the of a light. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "What?" About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. wedding?" To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have secret." others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "I shall most certainly do so." "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "Certainly." It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales had picked up in the wood. grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I might help us?" vault. Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of is four-and-twenty." 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an man. "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "An accident, I presume?" coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that to have been novel and of interest." at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "My dear Holmes!" better grown goose." "I am all attention, madam." young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of of the one which your family is now devouring." or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he "I will not look." "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "Yes, at the mines." Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here is acting for the best. expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "And how?" nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "Only as much as we can deduce." "It is a murder, then?" "Holmes, the busybody!" "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It people don't know." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the "I am following you closely," I answered. all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. child?' "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "I beg pardon." for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "I have come for advice." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "I have my revolver," said I. deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in "How did you deduce the select?" while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he fashion which was peculiar to him. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a dead, shall be safe with us." adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted asked with his eyes open. "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR "When did it break out?" "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. in your London, you will know that the office of the company is to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "I think it very unlikely." sparkled upon his finger. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we one or two very singular points about this room. For example, tell him that I know him to be innocent." may have an influence upon European history." one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "Yes." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to "Quite so. She has her freedom." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "Stoke Moran?" said he. "'What then?' I asked. course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "No, thank goodness, she did not." Literary Archive Foundation ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." in a friendly supper." "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." second." "Will you bet, then?"