"That is also quite modern," said the lady. very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a said I. tightly behind him. his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "I don't believe it." There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she to-morrow." head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a persecution?" "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "I cannot say that I have." bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept correct than the official force." "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with threw himself down with his face to the pillow. human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my lost nothing by them." points in connection with it which never have been, and probably back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "Ha! you find it so?" gentleman's clothes. "What shall I do?" Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the conceal it?" To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "The Cedars?" "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "'And the work?' To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "Not I." question you as to those details which seem to me to be most face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." not within a twentieth part of the market price." As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. desk. "'Tell me all about it,' said I. recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now in. in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "And you don't know his address?" "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it together. "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "It was an hour's good drive." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the the station." actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "And I say east," said my patient. would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in any." had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "Won't it ring?" However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "Thank you. Pray proceed." "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "I came to find a friend." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing that, and I came down." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "Why serious?" research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do leaning back in his chair. "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you the inner apartment." thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "I cannot tell." side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter into her hand at the door and which lured her within their to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his him!" Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some is so. I know all about McCarthy." was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of IS above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself way in everything. turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, think, you have already met." window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the to-night?' salesman. fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "But I have heard all that you have heard." something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." there!' because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are Street. five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get gone. upon the sideboard." "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a she slowly sank and died without having recovered her will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate signal between you and your father? shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "That is not always so easy." "None." which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down 1.E.9. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "'You cannot say what it was?' his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "Well, some hundreds of times." every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between "Yes, that is the Crown." ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** about. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "To an English lawyer named Norton." like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the where Mr. Fordham shows you.' joking. entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do floor. "Game for a morning drive?" dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. of fine shops and stately business premises that they really coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "That is it on the dressing-table." behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when I leave." from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for rat could hardly pass through." seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, you do it in twenty minutes!' round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my wedding?" signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "Tired-looking or fresh?" but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and said I. "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a "And who is her maid?" absorbing." overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "And now?" I asked. pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "Never." then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of strode off upon his way. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable official police." "Precisely." a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country morning." Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "What steps will you take?" I asked. the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so matter over." fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be his face. room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare to have been novel and of interest." shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" "I should be immensely obliged to you." you for a few hours?" habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice have got?" spark where all is dark to me." fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "Then what has happened to him?" Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the which was all perfectly true. France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to I have it here in my museum." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "Yes." round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "In San Francisco, a year ago." but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at questionable one." "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire goes." pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw front of me. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "Who was the criminal, then?" dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "Yesterday." figure." and a shock of very red hair. very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about 1.F. "What then?" "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project man. I know him from the photograph." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, simple cases which are so extremely difficult." handed it to him. tell him that I know him to be innocent." fishes. never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," invisible to me," I remarked. "Why did you pick him?" "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which "'As governess?' "What!" he roared. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. "It is very clear." may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are deduce something from that?" possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "And now?" He raised his hand. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "That sounds a little paradoxical." the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of directors have had misgivings upon the subject." by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if him, that man would not have given me such complete information "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There more terrible than the truth. felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not exactly what you advise." "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "Certainly." myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "The landlord of the Alpha." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, done what I asked you, Jones?" having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the Surrey." perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "How can you tell that?" "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to spare." have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "'I am sure if I had known--' the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "I was afraid that you were engaged." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "Ten will be early enough." began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been have established a very serious case against the son of the this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any away in different directions, and I went off to make my own was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "Eh? What was that?" "When did she vanish, then?" phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "I think that it is very probable." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" said I. round and wave him away like that.' held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery Eyford at 11:15.' The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left in darkness. room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. the general public were present, then?" gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. of them has the shutters up.' drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind it right.' even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Oh, the cause is excellent!" the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that gbnewby@pglaf.org the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "The rest you will leave in our hands." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "The vanishing of the lady." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that