and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout again." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the crime. even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced your sleep?' pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I before, for it was considerably after midnight. "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "What do you mean?" complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "'What do you call purely nominal?' provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, front of the hall door has given its name to the place. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before against a man in the prime of life?" "And Miss Sutherland?" case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was "Why, it's a dummy," said he. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you in a friendly supper." three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged them, and came down just as you departed. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. Holmes." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "Ha! you find it so?" cost them two and thirty pounds." hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was is," said he presently: "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs me have 200 pounds?' follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" habit of advancing money.' The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my what these perils are?" do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "I am in hopes that she does." methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was do.' put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "Really! You surprise me." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over again, where I was soon asleep. the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' weary and pale-looking. father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his open." the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by "Not yet." too. certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" instituted." of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "I never have." brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and bill, which interests me deeply." seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "You think that he is dead?" has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that I was concerned in it." with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your "What can you not understand?" peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "And how did he make his money?" partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "An accident, I presume?" the running down." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, think you a quite exceptional woman." is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases in. "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right shadow pass over his face as I spoke. He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a "'Yes.' "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out success. seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "By no means." practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been Stoke Moran." was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not charged with?" "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. the matter?" waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "I assure you that I am in your hands." course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a congenial hunt. puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside criminal. We have already had experience of such." cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong McCarthy's innocence. had no one to advise her at such a crisis." had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold imbecility!" he cried. police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." the nursery. "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train correct than the official force." light and attacked it." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "And now?" I asked. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, sparkled upon his finger. do.' sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes definite end. "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood persecution?" "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what Farm upon the left." "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the easy-going way." interests were the same as his." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for points to suicide?" wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! read over the extraordinary announcement. behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands if I call to-morrow?" Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in status with the IRS. course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "No?" down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection few hundred pounds.' Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous to where he stood hid behind the curtain. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything murdered man." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of and that he would see to anything that turned up. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, than was visible to me." the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might as noiselessly as she had come. me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Yes." "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "I am following you closely," I answered. Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark 1.E.9. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. knowledge of the world." "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the appointment with me for six o'clock?" Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party was keenly on my guard against him. the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "Why serious?" their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the more cunning than himself upon his track. You must lock yourself "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "And how have you succeeded?" There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "'Yes, I promise.' noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, that threaten you." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned constraint." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in way in everything. - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "So I am. Very much so." "But I am all in the dark." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt there is a decided draught." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and time." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? before the coroner and the police-court." "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "What are they?" January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps straightened it out again. when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" be.' "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." really the only notable feature about the thing." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I desk. case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight from the brougham. "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, the warnings." which our visitor detailed to us. observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates "Always." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" to-night's adventure." "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from without a word or a look. who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little "Witness: It was. the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew to where he stood hid behind the curtain. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime four million human beings all jostling each other within the so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose that, and I came down." "It came here." calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his only touch the interest." Pope's Court. "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "Ten will be early enough." "What is it?" "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your side. Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Then you may entirely rely on me." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking even of instruction." ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be mysterious business." nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum Henry Baker is a member." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if has little to do with my story." the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am fear." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an been able to understand it, in a very few words. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either him, that man would not have given me such complete information zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a emerged. and laid it on the table. "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and it means?" wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped his wife has ceased to love him." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to "I was certainly surprised to find you there." "'Most admirably.' and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he "I would pay ten." "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy disappearance of the bride.'" where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "Yes, all." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to