sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be thin legs towards the fire. appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "One of his hands." tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" few hundred pounds.' twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she during which he might have communicated with his friend the take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. read over the extraordinary announcement. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call in a very precise fashion." brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner weigh very heavily upon my conscience." it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons a suggestive one." "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "'Then let me do so?' figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do 1.E.9. "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "Yes?" "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that when you have done it." "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "No, thank goodness, she did not." was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us been deceived." was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and asked with his eyes open. the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I pity, because in other respects you would really have done very innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out charged with?" seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one a few minutes he said that it would be all right. us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' License. You must require such a user to return or as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the "When did it break out?" me." Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' constraint." "But not more so than I to find you." Sutherland. flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. seven miles from Eyford Station.' and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at husband's writing, madam." sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming his wife has ceased to love him." "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, during which he might have communicated with his friend the Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the cup of tea. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: Holmes' room. could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 strength." pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "Then you may entirely rely on me." having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now get her out of the way." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical must compliment you." "It is his hat." Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. in this note: "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "On your arm?" and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is carriage. It was a chestnut." edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from infinite languor in his face. of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will thin, with a long, sharp nose?" the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of fishes. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey maiden herself was most instructive." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "By no means." "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his dear old homesteads?" weary and pale-looking. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a case-book, which he consulted. paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and washing it down with a long draught of water. this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "One of the highest in England." maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "How do you know, then?" Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire business came to an end." the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the enough to aid us in our search." in this way: "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and investigation." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so I approached. when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a hurried away. father's place of business?" "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" question. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "But she will refuse." than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "What?" table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an Holmes. appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "And I to find an enemy." "Yes." he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the answer." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I amused." at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and you." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "She told me to ask you." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a had picked up in the wood. "It is possible." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young that the gas is not laid on in his house?" of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to despaired of." exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "I should like to see him very much." have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting to miss it." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the the nursery. afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' DAMAGE. "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Perhaps we may make them less so." The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit closing the door. "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become read over the extraordinary announcement. If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "It goes to the housekeeper's room." as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told hard-headed British jury." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Very truly yours, stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. suspect him." drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "'I have heard so.' "Come in!" said Holmes. have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you should be so warm over such a trifle." that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves 1.F. other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the to arrive at through this?" "'I am sure that I do not know.' other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "Quite so. She has her freedom." still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second the window, rose as we entered. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature national property. I was determined that the law should have its rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most voice, changing her seat as requested. She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "Yes." It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. Lee, in the county of Kent." reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that was already answered. "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and business came to an end." electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope could go. is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" "You saw the ventilator, too?" France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "He said too much." "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional any." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Precisely." arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel papers." had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business lectures into a series of tales." house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. bell. Holmes whistled. X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." that you can jump it.' "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "And sit in the dark?" "One of the highest in England." is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the prepare for the new role I have to play." strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless what these perils are?" clang of the bell. occupations.' It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure detective. "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than could go. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "Not particularly." the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, carriage. It was a chestnut." "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers do.' The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally Young McCarthy must be got off, however." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and has little to do with my story." forehead. coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "You will not go there first?" Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for the so-precious time, but come!' was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made conceal it?" I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. started for the Temple to see my husband. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house,