"I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "You have a clue?" "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear affair. extraordinary contortions. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it the warnings." "What will you do, then?" was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "You don't mind breaking the law?" He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At detective. vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "You have but to name it." his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "What! Had he lost his wife?" heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to little adventures." disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were It may be so in this case, also." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending foot. "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime seem to you to be relevant or not." Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a my friend's incisive reasoning. back into the street. over with notes and figures. bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which in the dead of the night?' chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Yes." the address that was given us in the advertisement. been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "Witness: It was. at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "How many? I don't know." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "Your French gold?" information in his hands the value of which he did not himself His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, Lee, in the county of Kent." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "Pray let us have it, for all that." circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "Where is it, then?" fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I occupations.' total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we http://gutenberg.net/license). Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the upon an income of about 60 pounds." it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, You can understand that this register and diary may implicate observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I "She told me to ask you." "That was it, sir." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "But you have hopes?" away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." "Not social, then?" begun to whiten, even as mine has." prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H gives a meaning to it." product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how had this final quarrel? "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "Yes, from Horsham." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "And your father? Did you tell him?" He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire as noiselessly as she had come. despair." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was that there was nothing in it, after all." accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally he. days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always habit of advancing money.' direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "I am all attention, madam." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "Certainly." offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up happened." be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout disturbance in my wife." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia your co-operation." "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into Chief Executive and Director where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety tell me that you intended to go into harness." "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. chemical work which was so dear to him. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up even so self-evident a thing as that." "Then I am your man." the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm the Friday. Was it to be in church?" here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been was used.' went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he vague figure huddled up in the darkness. matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it correct than the official force." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. written, and locked the door of the office after me. imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your crowd. cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with carried out of court." familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was "What, then, did Peterson do?" and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying directors have had misgivings upon the subject." took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of guilty parties." the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian James Windibank. Voilà tout!" served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," The telegram which we eventually received came late one night secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major breakfast?" cigars in their mouths. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day within hail.' better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "But who is he?" "The King of Scandinavia." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "How can you tell that?" line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "Certainly." following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "From his hat?" "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout careless servant girl?" invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to "From his hat?" of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and was a perfect sample of the class. the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already question. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his when your master had gone out." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "Here?" keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel late!' gbnewby@pglaf.org "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "Precisely so. But how--" "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. four million human beings all jostling each other within the received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never Their papers they mean to have, be the holder of them who it may. cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "May I see it?" study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a suspect him." "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "How long did she speak to this Alice?" weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark families. Now for the facts. skylight. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said DISSOLVED. "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. down from London to inquire more deeply into it." creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to you?' to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both could not have written that. It is the German who is so the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I woman who has had her own way to make in the world. with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and corner of the building. slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' III. however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too of it with the greatest attention. which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual do.' never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "Was there a secret marriage?" "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be "I cannot imagine." child?' "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark that I can to serve you." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest entirely devoid of interest." laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure to arrive at through this?" the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good were unconscious?" compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke never to learn it at all." ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I "To the police?" Surrey." continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened brain must have something in it." memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "Yes, it was twisted." and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "Where did you address your letters, then?" His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Then what has happened to him?" "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly the armchair which I pushed forward for him. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' I shall continue with my miserable story. "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" country, and eventually married, without anyone having a confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was the coroner come to?" stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. should be taken.' dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been get the tickets." "It surprised me." felt?" "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they bird of prey. its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through Doctor, of the paper and the date." was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "Not social, then?" gentleman's clothes. higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of at my own good fortune. the nursery. whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "Stolen." "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not conceal it?" fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. "Texas, I think." "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. unclasping of his long thin hands. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" McCarthy." and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire along the entire front of the house, with three long windows 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project returned to France?" "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already peculiar to him. what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as "Nearly eleven." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without approach us with offers to donate. estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "'I shall certainly be there.' "It certainly sounds feasible." opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "But it has twice been burgled." unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "Very truly yours, has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "You have but to name it." electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set business." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "I have a cab outside." affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "But you would not advise me to refuse?"