"You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De shoulder. any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when him!" Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very DISSOLVED. "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one charge against him will break down." should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly name is different." red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, papers diligently of late, have you not?" "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "By no means." prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, once more. remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "Yes. He waved his hands." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which upon the white wrist. "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you was a lad." "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he said I. gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and upon the sideboard." "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning to you." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "What is it, then--a fire?" hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me It may be so in this case, also." force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "That sounds a little paradoxical." the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I gone. "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "I think that it is very probable." through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut tear off another piece?' the inner apartment." Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "I am in hopes that she does." "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the highly," said Holmes. grasp, he hurried from the room. "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "Ah, but I was recommended to you." have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He opened the door, and slipped through. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and easy-going way." street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler highroad, where all traces were lost. had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, "I cannot imagine." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey and laid it on the table. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the on in his house." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have "The best possible." very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own congratulate you again." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and case-book, which he consulted. "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House trifles." politicians who had been sent down from the North. was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the "I know where it is." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "There is the writing." crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you as he folded up the epistle. my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "'Never.' "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who lips." putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention the general public were present, then?" the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw "'And what salary do you ask?' to that open window." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "That is also quite modern," said the lady. A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "When did she vanish, then?" sound at heart." observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H taking in every detail of the apartment. While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we touch that coronet?' if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in room. Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? "And who is her maid?" "What! You do not mean bodies?" chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, of the vacancies.' some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the a little more before I quite committed myself. without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, of this gang." myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he retorted upon me, and I on you." "None. Neville wrote those words." "Then I shall certainly come." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. Chief Executive and Director "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "'Yes.' like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." delighted to hear it," he said. circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic to-night?' room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in "'Where to?' once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "You have carte blanche." Chief Executive and Director "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You girl said." "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "And why in hopes?" master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency knowledge of the world." least a fellow-countryman. key of the affair now." same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." hands. beg that you will break it off." defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up grasp, he hurried from the room. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this populous neighbourhood." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "I cannot imagine." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "And I to find an enemy." girl said." "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong From what you have told me I think that it is possible that moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it article?" Miss Holder?" "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud electronic works here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "Tired-looking or fresh?" at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." Heh?' their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all *** START: FULL LICENSE *** Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" page at http://pglaf.org the south-west, I see." destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the crackling voice. "You are certainly joking, Holmes." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "Whose house is it?" usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Not social, then?" union?" "What then?" "No, but the enclosure is." 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. and put his glass in his pocket. "And I to find an enemy." "Not social, then?" indeed happy." "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "I know where it is." general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us "'Most admirably.' at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that was not a bird to be seen there. take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "I don't believe it." battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "What will you say?" society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it rooms." they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some persecution?" following enigmatical notices: "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as eavesdroppers?' it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what lumber-room." The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Very murderous indeed." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the plantation.' lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime prison!" I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. main points of my analysis." see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man congenial hunt. Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "Murdered?" "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as ready to-morrow?' "Absolutely?" your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. lost his Christmas dinner." down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will at my remark. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "It goes to the housekeeper's room." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few leave you to your papers for a little." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not not, dad?" she asked. and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always sofa. This way, please!" a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my "And you can do nothing until then?" and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "Not social, then?" to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the "Upon what point?" down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "'Certainly,' I answered. 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit new duties?' At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "'And what salary do you ask?' reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her and files of the old papers, following the future career of every two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and written. Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "That is not always so easy." "An enemy?" ceremony." address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, the address that was given us in the advertisement. sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let noble correspondent could be. as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a "You forget that I know nothing about it." companion. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "That is also quite modern," said the lady. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "That's no good." "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been "By no means." "Yes?" must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you get the tickets." the very letters. But what is this written above them?' had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his second." "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "Yes. He waved his hands." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "What will you do, then?" Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "'Where to?' my little problems."