is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of my special province." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and me, and I could not think that his explanation of the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "An enemy?" "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three are windows in it, of course?" is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. British peeress.'" "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could unprofitable." space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices four million human beings all jostling each other within the all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "I will do it." "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be did not hear it also.' "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "No, finished." an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for girl said." "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the since then to throw any light upon what became of him." listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "Is he quiet?" the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "9th. McCauley cleared. "Entirely." morning." even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, go from here to the Strand." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two recover the gem." a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check McCarthy's innocence. creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "ARAT," I read. the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, which we had just quitted. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. it." at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as hands. contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which points to suicide?" "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "Her father is very rich?" nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a fire. You quite follow me?" Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." nonsense.' so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a everything which you would wish to know." Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you him to go away.' "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. lumber-room." "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent arrangements." panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "How can you tell that?" "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us Holmes' thin, eager face. assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "I should like to see him very much." of his shoulders. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in had formerly been in part my own. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "Ample." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into one or two very singular points about this room. For example, come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client "I answered that I had not. will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is asked. "Have you it here?" "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and important." confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it cigars in the box." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, reach." ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and Lestrade of Scotland Yard." unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been discontent upon his features. society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my relation between them, and what the object of his repeated no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the and looked back. twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "That is possible." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found into her hand at the door and which lured her within their became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what Leave Paddington by the 11:15." than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you copied or distributed: docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at means taking possession of that which another person has a prior There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "Do you know him?" have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with not as remarkable as your advertisement." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's one of the states of the Union." astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him plantation.' "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "None." "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "Yes." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can "How did you deduce the select?" postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "Will you go?" assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered the iron safe, which he closed upon it. away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps been deceived." dear old homesteads?" sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it have established a very serious case against the son of the breakfast." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America Pool. words came to my lips. dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to over here." knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Yes, the wine-cellar." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely writers could invent nothing more crude." him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "Nothing?" clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" floor. so.' "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than to Leatherhead. to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "VIOLET HUNTER." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the gigantic client. wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was "'Entirely.' round with crates and massive boxes. the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such man. I know him from the photograph." "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "If so, much may have happened between." sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same suggested at once that there must be a communication between the Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "'Very good.' "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, was the fact that his father should, according to his account, back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "You have but to name it." "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would had this final quarrel? my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my strength." "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a make me his representative both with the servants and with the hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had Foundation experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He 1.F. Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "What! a murderous attack?" "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened important." prison!" harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "We were both in the photograph." papers must be those that are destroyed.' THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "And your father? Did you tell him?" that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "And you don't know his address?" States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me charge against him will break down." "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just