photograph a cabinet?" now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly you?" tied." "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary "But you can know nothing of this?" and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "Not in the least." "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "Could he throw no light?" "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of investigation." "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "Which are?" simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is any little problem which you may submit to me." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "Nothing?" the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not words came to my lips. the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we the house with me." "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "Come in!" said Holmes. "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the and prosperity to your house. Good-night." slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though "'And what are they worth?' I asked. "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your that he has suffered." through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have British peeress.'" frequently gained my first real insight into the character of enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been meanly of me." "Yes." unkempt, staring out at me. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened round and wave him away like that.' that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich "He is dead," cried several voices. "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." fat-encircled eyes. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the was already answered. appeared upon the scene." it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "Which are?" he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or which I could not give. He asked for Alice. into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "Never." his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new "Have you her photograph?" It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior "'What do you call purely nominal?' "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "But he might be a bachelor." looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not his knees, staring into the fire. "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious bore every mark of being an average commonplace British would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do him to be an active member of the medical profession." "She walked into the breakfast-room." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past in. as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "How often?" they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. "Your French gold?" "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "And when will you call?" "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be main points of my analysis." utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. "No good news?" helping a boy to put up the shutters. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "'As governess?' aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, the ceiling. red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in "But he might be a bachelor." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you him. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I believe that I should never have any practice at all. grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have Watson," he said cordially. instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into discontent upon his features. greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "And now?" I asked. opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they away in different directions, and I went off to make my own cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. foresight and the moral retrogression?" those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they Holmes." however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the himself in a perplexing position. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his intrusion of other matters." "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and suddenly upon us." chamber." "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry "I am all attention, madam." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, respectable self." no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than like that before?" them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very of a light. yards of it?' desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the from the brougham. frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight to talk it over. now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took fact, we may call it conclusive." he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it Mary, has deserted me." round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "Eh? What was that?" slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the undoubtedly my uncle's." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my becomes even more simple." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." down in his armchair and closing his eyes. was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do your co-operation." plantation.' who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "It is possible." "Yes, I have one waiting." "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" ways of our fellow-men." adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. side. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection purpose equally well?" "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "I am following you closely," I answered. "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a key turn in the lock." enter Dr. Roylott's room." present strange and interesting features that it is no easy fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one strength of mind to control. the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." amused." "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. wedding?" the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. business came to an end." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and maiden herself was most instructive." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. "But she will refuse." "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and new duties?' have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. his knees, staring into the fire. "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would should be so warm over such a trifle." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was do.' must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and highly," said Holmes. the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been constraint." "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' been anything against him. He had for years been known as a something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "You have compromised yourself seriously." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the the King without delay." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots was used.' "Yes, but only for you and me." smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had beyond words. sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon fatally injured? "Proceed, then." "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You depend upon my doing so.' "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed up this clue while it is still hot." and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the tapping his fingers upon the table. upon the white wrist. in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "That also I could fathom." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "Yes, only one." I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "Where to?" was keenly on my guard against him. breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" You want to know what became of those geese?" balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly "Come in!" said Holmes. cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united there when the Rucastles went away." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's any." band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an together. to tell." "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." power." this unhappy family?" wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from situation." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by simple cases which are so extremely difficult." so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" the date of his supposed suicide." life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the