logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the sneer upon his pale face. our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this this as likely?" newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, to miss it." against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come strange features which were associated with the two crimes which The summons was a brief and urgent one. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "I was afraid that you were engaged." Leadenhall Street--and--" down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Pray do so." quick march!" eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than Countess of Morcar's?" He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the that he will be back before evening." one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' Clair, of Lee." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come points in connection with it which never have been, and probably The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already enough to aid us in our search." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it chance at all." have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "'Well, it is a little awkward, for I have a business already,' I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very with her." turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always for its centre. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in to you." your bag." determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The became a certainty. husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "She walked into the breakfast-room." how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "And your father? Did you tell him?" which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down went to the Alpha were town bred." dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite that I am arrested." occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side do you make of it all?" all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying husband's writing, madam." "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words existence." invisible to me," I remarked. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that "No, distinctly professional." flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to "None." sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Miss Holder?" acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has feature." flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an American. Then who could this American be, and why should he that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I very old mansion. "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see with her." rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I Leave Paddington by the 11:15." which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as whole matter to your consideration." "I am sure." some place of shelter and let the county police know what has step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small disappearance of these gems?" spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by served to weaken the effect. extraordinary contortions. "What will you say?" was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." and laid it on the table. after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I several quiet little villages up there." locked. half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when to have been novel and of interest." to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, IS impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a business came to an end." "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon it were putty." creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just ways including including checks, online payments and credit card friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing it with his own hands." even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "Then he might have called to you?" the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating cigars in their mouths. there was no need for father to know." your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive you understand?" and glanced through. "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a "Then the page we have seen--" "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and them?" was it brought him the coronet? and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "Stolen." look dissatisfied." A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "An enemy?" "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. mysterious business." again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your quickly through a disagreeable task. sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "That is it on the dressing-table." the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt relief. weigh very heavily upon my conscience." as he remarks, very much against the son." "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor you understand?" reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "And your father? Did you tell him?" However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America goes." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the the station." have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "And how have you succeeded?" "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. goes." petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. to have that photograph." my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her the roots. Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "'Quite sure, dad.' the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. night.' said he. from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come where Mr. Fordham shows you.' back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there allusion to a rat. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' You want to know what became of those geese?" INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "And your mother is alive?" furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "Entirely." approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones seem to you to be relevant or not." "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as morning." "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the Street. felt?" Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and fat-encircled eyes. it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an "Frequently." sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "'Yes, it was gone.' method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, kindly on the shoulder. my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may of note-paper. It read in this fashion: about. casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging have got?" I approached. "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point is acting for the best. eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and morning." road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean Foundation the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a were new raised from a basin. trying to your nerves." to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I morning." passage and a tap at the door. conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really and it need not interfere very much with one's other doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." affection." The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He disappearance of these gems?" papers on the sundial.'" do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, there in twenty minutes." out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that this remarkable episode. Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent have been better. It is all right." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "That you are never beaten." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are spark where all is dark to me." him and tried to hold him back. "It is possible." "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest evidence," I remarked. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "But what is it you wish?" o'clock is it?" his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at one of them." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "What have you to say now?" "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "Very. But will he see it?" to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary was not a bird to be seen there. twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten because she had spent so short a time in this country that she passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her that I may have something better before very many minutes are back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed intimate personal affairs in this public manner." look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "Because he was handy and would come cheap." better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I some city in a dream. "Then you may be so with me." Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." opened a pocket-book and took out a note. fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a 'I should be able to look after that for you.' night.' said he. ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two eavesdroppers?' "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger your equipment. to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "It is his hat." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced in his hands." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? my room." "'Is purely nominal.' corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. other lovers by making love himself." prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax gigantic client. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "She showed me, as I told you she would." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be be sorry for having acted so harshly." face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back invisible to me," I remarked. instincts rose up against that laugh. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length The note was undated, and without either signature or address. the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that