though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey and inquire as to the address." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a father's young wife. galvanised. vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "Yes, I have one waiting." was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the newspaper selections." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "Indeed! Whose, then?" desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by during which he might have communicated with his friend the Clair, of Lee." "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the a very grave face. The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were relief. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "It was an hour's good drive." agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to to tackle the facts." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "Where, then?" bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, the window, rose as we entered. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the is worth.' Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "And I say east," said my patient. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect vault. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by "Yes. He waved his hands." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out official police." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "She told me to ask you." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very himself to hunt down. St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own take the flies, but not before." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the asked. least a most suspicious remark." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our breakfast and whispered something to her husband. same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of companion. would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End within hail.' man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the directly by questioning you." "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of to-morrow." "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the outbreak?" nothing of it?" are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical manager. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. careless servant girl?" "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side go back?" "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, notes," he said. my former friend and companion. cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always Street. occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and most interesting one." Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the the inner apartment." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in particular state visit http://pglaf.org which it had come upon my father." devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face whole matter to your consideration." Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive man. "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Whose house is it?" dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "'Certainly not. But why?' should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is amused." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Street. caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "Pray let us have it, for all that." national property. I was determined that the law should have its increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." that there was nothing in it, after all." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, union?" middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the correct than the official force." about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord dramatic, in fact." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" other, as fresh and trim as possible. recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly cigar and let me expound." before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "What have you to say now?" disappearance of the bride.'" "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed everything which you would wish to know." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. details." will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the occurred." Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, McCarthy." suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the important." reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. look upon these things in a different way." national property. I was determined that the law should have its ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added grasp, he hurried from the room. It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. bearing upon the case." Miss Holder?" inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "Then what has happened to him?" continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent "Then I do not see the point." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "Yes, sir." vault. perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of Miss Holder?" a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I directly by questioning you." beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. The note was undated, and without either signature or address. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business Henry Baker is a member." to tackle the facts." stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? round with crates and massive boxes. at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the and laid it on the table. believe that I should never have any practice at all. upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the 1.E.9. town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a "Perfectly so." small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, their singular warning or token before them when starting upon down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the about. assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my putting in the horse. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling maiden herself was most instructive." errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate jewels which you have stolen?' "Yes." and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet 11:15.' "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, families. Now for the facts. light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for do.' usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be was lame." burst out into a roar of laughter. "Then he might have called to you?" Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "'I shall certainly be there.' floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush a room. particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it the room while you explain this matter?" "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All lips." "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the was feeling which was the fattest.' by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my handed it to him. him nearly every evening." "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "Who by?" from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the that I may have something better before very many minutes are "In which, sir?" outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a British peeress.'" furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I forehead. tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely narrative." doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it over part of the map. "What do you read?" wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking as he folded up the epistle. room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a during the last few years, and there are many noble families to absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set to some other building. possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "And now?" I asked. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately written. not use it unless it is absolutely needed." exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone must compliment you." appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of "No bad?" this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander was feeling which was the fattest.' it were putty." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of Edgeware Road. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are crowd. iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty front of the hall door has given its name to the place. thirty. Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought key of the affair now." entirely devoid of interest." He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his in darkness. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "Look there!" said he. down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "Could he throw no light?" at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and place no limit on the sum I may draw." compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any "Very truly yours, flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set populous neighbourhood." the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I upon a handsome competence. "'Where to?' upon the sideboard." 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "Seven!" I answered. "You have it, sir, just as it happened." upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. where Mr. Fordham shows you.' is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "I cannot tell." method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and get the tickets." a suggestive one." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation