harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "Texas, I think." however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this frequently gained my first real insight into the character of Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had power." hand, madam?" "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "You forget that I know nothing about it." prove to be little relation between the different incidents of admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect tear off another piece?' the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding British peeress.'" it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on derbies." of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that such attractions and accomplishments?' his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "Do you receive much company?" he asked. drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and "Yes." Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "What?" London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "We were both in the photograph." murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "I cannot say that I have." and all of them with the keenest interest. about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the business came to an end." did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if is now desirous of getting those letters back." happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "Yes, that is the Crown." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a strong and stiff." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman cigar and let me expound." "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of some mystery and the punishment of some crime." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged if only as a check to my own memory." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "And how did you verify them?" who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and your Highness to the police-station?" exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "'Most admirably.' "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her had a long day." the ceiling. "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. something of him before." the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might his grey eyes. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun approach us with offers to donate. four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Yes." "It is a murder, then?" true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "What then?" "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "It is a murder, then?" no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "How did you trace it, then?" crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" hurried away. "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing later, upon the night of May 2nd." my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "Why, it's a dummy," said he. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "My private note-paper." "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring opened the door, and slipped through. With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the was lame." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "She showed me, as I told you she would." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "None." to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible throat." breakfast?" I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "To the police?" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, the window, rose as we entered. dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well careless servant girl?" his cane at the bell-pull. "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, Lee, in the county of Kent." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from business." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men stammered. to go into your room and bar your shutters?" "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain Mrs. Toller serenely. she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No enter into my head. explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned views." as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "Not in the least." instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other him. wedding?" is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely Street. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a made his money." did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith tapping his fingers upon the table. really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, Stoke Moran." away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should father's place of business?" instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared wedding?" "Ten will be early enough." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. own family. "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now "Nothing." "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "Yes, it would be as well." "Why, what do you mean?" son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out morning." prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "To an end?" upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked said he. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly it were putty." electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "You heard nothing yourself last night?" "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than main points of my analysis." opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the appeared upon the scene." official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off "'About the same.' unprecedented a position." been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "And from a noble client?" basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" been anything against him. He had for years been known as a Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. the matter." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had and glanced through. legal crime." you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this was it brought him the coronet? is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Does that suggest anything?" which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own over his head with a sweet womanly caress. her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "I came to find a friend." Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed strength." at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should weapon." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a chamber." "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the acquaintance?" look upon these things in a different way." residence of the great financier. those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Your sister is dead, then?" even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now examination of the premises, but without finding anything which "Then he might have called to you?" "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was past. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may "A confidential servant?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you "10th. John Swain cleared. reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which the room while you explain this matter?" His smile broadened. the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a This is what he says: "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no interests were the same as his." the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "Well, it is a possible supposition." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "'What are you doing there?' he asked. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the is worth.' I nodded again. "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard you." "Yes?" had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like is worth.' clanging. "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "Here?" find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated disappearance of the bride.'" her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress which are rolled in Rotterdam." untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "But he might be a bachelor." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my is so. I know all about McCarthy." very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "Is he quiet?" Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." without success. At last the little money which I had saved began learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the tell them apart.' "The decline of his fortunes, then?" kindly on the shoulder. even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed 1.E.9. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I