upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." noble correspondent could be. at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. was lame." where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a the morning and make my own way in the world.' safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "None. Neville wrote those words." be. behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see my secret was safe in his possession. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "I came to find a friend." manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head were wasted." his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "I shall be delighted." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "And what did you learn from him?" they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "Very truly yours, His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as bed dies. Does not that strike you?" very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "A call for help, you thought?" secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and what do you think they found in the pockets?" just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, bed dies. Does not that strike you?" would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "I don't say that. Perhaps." it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "How are you getting on?" she has been waylaid. There has been no result." Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I writers could invent nothing more crude." "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here himself to hunt down. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "But what will you do?" "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "This photograph!" Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help head. So long, then!" "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am room?" because she had spent so short a time in this country that she I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, unprofitable." misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and leave you to your papers for a little." Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just himself. severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." south, for the country is more deserted there." direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. is four-and-twenty." IS the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally arrangements." where she found matters as described by the last witness. and it need not interfere very much with one's other red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "'Quite sure, dad.' and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter the south-west, I see." Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having "But you were on a friendly footing?" it." sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your in my life." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the take the flies, but not before." "'Is purely nominal.' parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is not use it unless it is absolutely needed." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety yourselves in at night?" mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his very peculiar words of the dying woman?" gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four he bowed and left the room without another word. The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs this Miss Turner." one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the once more. shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no present." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to nights." he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know him nearly every evening." a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "Where did you address your letters, then?" To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we rose-bushes. "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so important." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed intrusion of other matters." "What will you do, then?" "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, help us in this matter." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself business." seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, tail." the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two and shall probably return to London by the evening train." With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "But his lameness?" even of instruction." "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad very peculiar words of the dying woman?" girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one "I know where it is." Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm them present such singular features as the strange train of the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." the iron safe, which he closed upon it. quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "How did you deduce the select?" over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from a good hundred miles off by now." bare slabs of marble. DISSOLVED. of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was wedding?" house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and along the entire front of the house, with three long windows Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "No, finished." "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a important." "Look there!" said he. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the someone who had been in Australia." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "But we can't all be." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "And how did he make his money?" grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I certainly do as you advise." discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the instituted." hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "It certainly sounds feasible." "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. fishes. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more in his power. of a light. "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off it. front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden some city in a dream. "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a from the brougham. with her." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a have had none more fantastic than this." array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "And did you observe any change in her then?" abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square one of them." box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "And your mother is alive?" English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my back into the street. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate developed." Street. my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old were new raised from a basin. however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that pressing in one house as in another. laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, http://www.gutenberg.net "Do you know him?" "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society during that time.' "The murder was done with it." fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "My Mary? Impossible!" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she me, and I could not think that his explanation of the She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, heavy and sharp instrument." to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone "Certainly." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us passage and a tap at the door. game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project of this gang." situation." "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been test if we have an answer to our advertisement." "About a month then." it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it fuss that is made over them." "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I tail." "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, there." my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and see me here to avoid scandal." bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. from the brougham. he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few letters?" which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy upon the sideboard." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes might have a private word with us. observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from showing my impatience. yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let we went to search for him, face downward in a little "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the "In which, sir?" obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "9th. McCauley cleared. "ARAT," I read. "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "And your father? Did you tell him?" houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a if I call to-morrow?" Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "At what time?" Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off yards of it?' were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, it." The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in points to suicide?" the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found right! Sit down and let us talk it over." wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." unprofitable." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always such person." heavy and sharp instrument." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the better in every way that they should make their position a little have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." sound at heart." remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and married her." Lee, in the county of Kent." my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but individual and becomes the badge of a society." information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "Yes." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or you." could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' IS shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I peculiar to him. guilty one." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by again, where I was soon asleep. against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any had formerly been in part my own. original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "It is true that I have been generally successful." would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful and a shock of very red hair. "What of the rat, then?" seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of me what he had done with the three missing stones. seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "How many? I don't know." "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers come either from the window or the door. My attention was far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "I should like to see him very much." "But I am all in the dark." "What have you to say now?" familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the Eyford." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have and glanced through. "You think so, too?" "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long suggested at once that there must be a communication between the before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the