offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." prison!" "Will you go?" weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and a monotonous occupation." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a writers could invent nothing more crude." "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to our word." With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible detective. "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the during which he might have communicated with his friend the see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first her also." "None." first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular colonel looking down at me. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. hands. all?" such attractions and accomplishments?' "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it retorted upon me, and I on you." introspective fashion. certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite foot. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, place of silver." to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "Witness: I must still refuse. reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, the morning and make my own way in the world.' "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and "And it is--" the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "Well?" "'Never,' said I. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "No." what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "Yes, only one." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for "You think that he is dead?" "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has unprecedented a position." nonsense.' "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light for its centre. stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. trying to your nerves." handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "It's nothing of the kind." moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done them?" twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." criminal. We have already had experience of such." mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I to-morrow." you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "And is that all?" wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a Pope's Court. that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it fled together." continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been skylight. corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I call you and give you the chance." "At half-wages, in fact." came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to "Indeed! Whose, then?" "Yes." furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "Yes, that is the Crown." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the business." cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "But how will you look?" "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. over his head with a sweet womanly caress. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among sooner or later she must fall a victim. dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "No. What a strange idea!" "No, finished." - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." "And I say east," said my patient. "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they of." endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "Proceed, then." absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing gbnewby@pglaf.org inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." through." some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so call the police, let the police find what they can.' "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was people don't know." "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to be sorry for having acted so harshly." the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend "And you thought he was pulled back?" Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. II. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "But not more so than I to find you." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty ventilator." past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "Whose house is it?" held up the lantern and gazed about him. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept detective. not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which said Mr. Holder. Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and her also." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry For additional contact information: unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "'Certainly not. But why?' the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend the house with me." office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened ran thus: society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I when you have done it." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps his eyes and forehead. at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to dates and names. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black your own bird, so if you wish--" such attractions and accomplishments?' very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "You will not go there first?" of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "What! Had he lost his wife?" putting in the horse. scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped of fine shops and stately business premises that they really the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which in a friendly supper." Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a business matters.' interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very "Why? What do you mean?" tapping his fingers upon the table. "One?" generous with you in money matters.' pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until me what he had done with the three missing stones. sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get away to you." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "That is unusual in a young girl." "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way "Look there!" said he. the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was Pool. "No." then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "What then?" eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the desk. at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. "No. What a strange idea!" of a light. incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far "'And the work?' remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one little trying to do so much typewriting?" Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "I am sure." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "Who was the criminal, then?" the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in you." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "Well?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be Watson," he said cordially. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can matter over." he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were the window, rose as we entered. advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their way in everything. in this way: "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "From his hat?" would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it very morning of my second wedding." into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when like gravel from a pit.' at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away "'Most admirably.' "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his "Entirely." benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical his face which made him a very different person to the round, said I. "No. His orders were to stay in the house." revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." or in danger--" police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the "The vanishing of the lady." "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." I held the little printed slip to the light. "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "It is solved." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this was keenly on my guard against him. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "I should wish to." "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in with you alone." peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "'Never.' "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "'And the work?' ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning remarked. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the Holmes' thin, eager face. legal crime." trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his at once, for I have only half an hour." week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week confronted him. The telegram which we eventually received came late one night sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "But of what society?" her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the see me here to avoid scandal." "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "One horse?" interjected Holmes. his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "It is possible." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "It looks newer than the other things?" building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would away into the river." "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "But I am all in the dark." lectures into a series of tales." "'Yes, it was gone.' rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "One horse?" interjected Holmes. and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door six. Come in!" had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Married! When?" as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project me have 200 pounds?' building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. sufficient punishment." "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This brain must have something in it." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said more terrible than the truth. homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. lectures into a series of tales." "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the there is a decided draught." in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is maiden herself was most instructive." "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, to tell." swore that no one else had been in the front room during the fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was