my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet companion quietly. woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made stood on the top of it. Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of open." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the upon the sideboard." themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" "I guessed as much." plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall have an American origin." "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come approach us with offers to donate. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the maid will bring up your coffee." a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs have had none more fantastic than this." "No, but the enclosure is." "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself tail." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." very old mansion. that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely to that open window." vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "But who is he?" innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very events, Mr. Windibank!" "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "And who is her maid?" homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in of it with the greatest attention. de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter are, I think, all that we need." desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "So I heard. You have him here?" very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "It surprised me." "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was appeal." I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the prove to be little relation between the different incidents of "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to "You saw the ventilator, too?" wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing bears upon the case?" A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must "'I have already given you my word.' "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than Sholtos." explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, invisible to me," I remarked. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your secret." case before our client came into the room." sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not answered with a sidelong glance. the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already as he remarks, very much against the son." "And what did you see?" turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon could not have written that. It is the German who is so absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "She walked into the breakfast-room." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am question. should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in events than those which have happened in my own family." I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for "How did you deduce the select?" Miss Holder?" several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "That sounds a little paradoxical." not come at once?" "Witness: I must still refuse. coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door there in twenty minutes." Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become approach us with offers to donate. "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among McCarthy's innocence. I am not easy in my mind about them." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have matter over." The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend spare." particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most nothing with him." and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, one of them." fishes. trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses vague figure huddled up in the darkness. has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and "Texas, I think." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "What! a murderous attack?" Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little DISSOLVED. "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. McCarthy's innocence. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and the tragedy. very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria instincts rose up against that laugh. highroad, where all traces were lost. Count Von Kramm." always that they were such commands as a lady might with indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his of receipt of the work. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "Did you observe the colour?" "What are they?" drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "But how did you gain them?" "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you not as remarkable as your advertisement." at my own good fortune. diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, detained." "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a one or two very singular points about this room. For example, Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "No, I think that I'll take it." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to "Yes, sir." credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had society." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my people in all walks of life. confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was just called myself is not exactly my own." side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of a few minutes he said that it would be all right. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my the little opening for the ventilator is." memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert cost them two and thirty pounds." "In answer to an advertisement." his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "I beg pardon." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good it? Did I buy the geese off you?" humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling spare." find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "9th. McCauley cleared. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, minor matters until to-morrow." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my go--none." The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all the stable lane now." would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, felt the room to be a little close.' sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "And you don't know his address?" tapping his fingers upon the table. study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a I. "Do you receive much company?" he asked. Holmes. "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." already referred to. screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "My private note-paper." the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy the Friday. Was it to be in church?" as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" at my remark. voice. all that?" the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to is worth.' "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "I would give my fortune to have them back." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, good for you to do.' off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the new acquaintance to Baker Street. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the "Absolutely?" you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "Proceed, then." "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "Not social, then?" home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking It was close upon four before the door opened, and a grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "Perfectly so." to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. any." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming might help us?" this remarkable episode. uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, behind me. coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was "Not in a good cause." "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most "But it has twice been burgled." the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." horse could go." tell him that I know him to be innocent." "Yes." where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking "No." front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Whose house is it?" "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "I don't believe it." should be taken.' Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has I was concerned in it." "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "10th. John Swain cleared. their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, asked with his eyes open. "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "And how did you find out?" request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check forbidden door. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to whatever might befall. I think that I could be of assistance to you." "By no means." so.' "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "It is a murder, then?" one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who into the room. feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "Did your wife hear all this?" reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for is now desirous of getting those letters back." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than name is different." The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "'Very good.' law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had reach." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "Murdered?" thirty. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "Was your sister dressed?" journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Certainly." "Yes." The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked the matter." "Very murderous indeed." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I the address that was given us in the advertisement. stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell "Yes, but only for you and me." "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "If so, much may have happened between." fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "Then I do not see the point." "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I ways of our fellow-men." this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. information in his hands the value of which he did not himself all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The Leadenhall Street--and--" All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, him to be an active member of the medical profession." License. You must require such a user to return or "No more words. Get out!" purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in gives a meaning to it." can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "Very murderous indeed." while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick