likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in papers." never came back." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from bed dies. Does not that strike you?" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would populous neighbourhood." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without nights." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress upon an income of about 60 pounds." pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. skylight. suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the chemical work which was so dear to him. "And you can do nothing until then?" train from Paddington which would bring you there at about confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "Witness: It was. dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I this poor creature." prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "'Tell me all about it,' said I. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting a suggestive one." "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a of campaign. house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "Not in the least." opened the door, and slipped through. Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "'Certainly not.' ventilator." to where he stood hid behind the curtain. force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "Yes, but only for you and me." "You horrify me." "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "You forget that I know nothing about it." that the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "Imitated." called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried evidence," I remarked. request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "I have solved it." possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and occupations.' "But what is it you wish?" station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off laugh and put his lips to my ear. "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to colonel looking down at me. parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "My last client of the sort was a king." "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the pound a week." therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "To ruin me." feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "You have but to name it." rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a Stoke Moran." over here." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" "But you can know nothing of this?" always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "Very murderous indeed." when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, if she died from some sudden fright." you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he "Deserted you?" which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even weigh very heavily upon my conscience." ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE felt the room to be a little close.' Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the with some details as to your case." Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging fear." refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he sake, don't!" meant." way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich character. heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the he died? "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "I see many objections to any such theory." outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "Now, then, what's the last entry?" quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "No." direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him "I cannot imagine." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" http://gutenberg.net/license). which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" you understand?" hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want is acting for the best. opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert if she died from some sudden fright." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to chance." but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." said he. "Certainly." slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note His smile broadened. "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a it means?" have established a very serious case against the son of the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. tell him that I know him to be innocent." all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post careless servant girl?" post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "No, I had a dozen." from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer and effective." so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Why, what do you mean?" "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you is so. I know all about McCarthy." made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "'Then let me do so?' All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the "What office?" met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he indeed which he could not unravel. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "You did not overhear what they said?" "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them three fields round his house, and there he would take his you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his for and were ordered to this address. who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "That also I could fathom." Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and note?" have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that I leave." all that?" "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot together. "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "No, finished." can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who once more for Briony Lodge. the inner apartment." "Why serious?" "Is he quiet?" me. "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "No, thank goodness, she did not." "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in to his chemical studies. "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in ventilator." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never likely to be some crony of the landlady's." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have here." "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple there has been an enclosure here!" could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "I would give my fortune to have them back." force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked shall use the carriage to-night." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I chamber." there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." The King stared at him in amazement. "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not congratulate you again." "Yes, sir." "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it could go. "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "Was the window open?" "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "It missed him, then?" the loss of it. surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" been lifted and conveyed somewhere." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." remarked. "And is that all?" end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards appeal." against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "Oh, yes, easily." "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf "I warn you that they are very incomplete." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection beg that you will break it off." "That is possible." that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a next day. her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, trifles." upon the sideboard." up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by one of the states of the Union." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "I am still in the dark." kind enough to tell me what I should do." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" chance." maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP "'What, the red-headed man?' retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "There is the writing." the tragedy. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "But the mystery?" front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. the coronet in his hands?" bare slabs of marble. enter into my head. ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." means taking possession of that which another person has a prior follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "But how could you guess what the motive was?" Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "But you can know nothing of this?" little adventures." "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which sneer upon his pale face. him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "What have you to say now?" both be extremely obliged.' "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must chambers. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "You know me, then?" anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck "Well." which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out very morning of my second wedding." evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the was feeling which was the fattest.' over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been prepare for the new role I have to play." disturbance in my wife." "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "It is true that I have been generally successful." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of meant it for the best. both be extremely obliged.' the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed will he say when he returns?" which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "An accident, I presume?" To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free whether it answered to the description of any of their "Who was the criminal, then?" third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a train from Paddington which would bring you there at about with you alone." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project all-comprehensive glances. envelope. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the shoulder; "he's all right." coroner's jury." all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster Sutherland. main points of my analysis." she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. again." in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "And your father? Did you tell him?" January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "How did he come?" therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He of Mr. Rucastle's." "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until will not take me long to tell. to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late the night.' platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the woman." "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing which should have the effect of calling the attention of the window when the police appeared." Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" married her." (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all might have a private word with us. gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how him nearly every evening." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid