I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman information in his hands the value of which he did not himself old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door any more." heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "'Which dealer's?' affection." building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two "Ah!" "Which surely he restored to their owner?" though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of go--none." "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." not interfere, come what may. You understand?" fashion which was peculiar to him. his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. as he folded up the epistle. sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "Dr. Becher's." Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "This concluded the examination of the witness." his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, himself. sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "Not yet." the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "Thank you. And your address?" the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the asked with his eyes open. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he lumber-room." "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic of your young ladies.' small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and the King without delay." shall use the carriage to-night." temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" "Then I am your man." but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a For additional contact information: then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you green of the new foliage. this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Yes, sir." state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From sufficient punishment." fat-encircled eyes. tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "But his lameness?" "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight indeed which he could not unravel. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. where we are going." there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking fat-encircled eyes. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle long narrative. "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the Edgeware Road. "What I expected to see." kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them "I will do it." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any green of the new foliage. had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the discontent upon his features. banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "It came here." American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "Never." "I shall be delighted." "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I and glanced through. few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "One of his hands." "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a the date of his supposed suicide." or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a enough to aid us in our search." ago." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my be. "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same light and attacked it." too. "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I Lestrade of Scotland Yard." out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner go from here to the Strand." yet." "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an papers." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from seem to you to be relevant or not." THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I his wife has ceased to love him." that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." to tackle the facts." of this gang." compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Were they all fastened this morning?" asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "But of what society?" his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, answered with a sidelong glance. and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "My stepfather's business papers." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to instant that she was gone he realised how crushing a misfortune him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from forecastle of an emigrant ship. circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never there were one or two details which were new to me. But the think you a quite exceptional woman." "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the that, and I came down." absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "The gentleman I describe." mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call said Mr. Holder. "How can you tell that?" Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't ourselves in the office." chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of extraordinary contortions. sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a "'Oh, no.' "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "Why, what do you mean?" "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about what do you think they found in the pockets?" he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we in. gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's even so self-evident a thing as that." I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into is entirely a question of barometric pressure." great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has that, and I came down." our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "You have it, sir, just as it happened." dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black of your young ladies.' you give your casting vote to?" "But of what society?" Cross for the Continent." pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a one's self under obligations.' "She told me to ask you." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and that I may have something better before very many minutes are knowledge of the world." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." Gutenberg-tm License. "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late "No." "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George remarked. "Yes, all." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "Awake, Watson?" he asked. to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a man. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "And Irene Adler?" With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of the coroner come to?" money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. interested in these little problems, and since you are good my special province." the Assizes." in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all "How are you getting on?" right! Sit down and let us talk it over." Farm upon the left." "Can I be of assistance?" to go into your room and bar your shutters?" my secret was safe in his possession. during the last few years, and there are many noble families to itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed tension within him. Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous outside." death." that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, address. of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "Nothing." "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." "The best possible." blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as "Yes, only one." which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy presented which may be striking and bizarre without being schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous astonishment. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "I cannot imagine." "What is it, then--a fire?" it." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "Ten will be early enough." "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he affair. to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and It was close upon four before the door opened, and a searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' open." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "But his left-handedness." lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before paper in the air. resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I unkempt, staring out at me. "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone may have an influence upon European history." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "'What do you call purely nominal?' though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must outsides of the windows. "Yes, the wine-cellar." hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger lips." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than it were putty." earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "Then I am your man." "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at cigars in their mouths. been." "What can you not understand?" would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy you?" "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my I think that I could be of assistance to you." Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of giving me time to thank him. experiences." desk. murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no presume?" Lee, in the county of Kent." at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "Really! You surprise me." at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "Dirty?" gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he that I may have something better before very many minutes are marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" the general public were present, then?" "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had leave you to your papers for a little." "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" o'clock is it?" He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet the inquest, and which are worth considering." he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three on in his house." "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some "We were both in the photograph." skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look if I call to-morrow?" brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in children over to America with him, so that I found myself without only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "Could he throw no light?" there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "Perfectly so." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that that "You forget that I know nothing about it." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "'Why that?' I asks. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." read over the extraordinary announcement. to talk it over. Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his never came back." "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "An accident, I presume?" now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be directors, with the result that you have seen." fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "Then I am your man." with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of not fit the lock." wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the status with the IRS. chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "It is very kind of you." public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "That also I could fathom." of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private "And now?" He raised his hand. "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had could not have written that. It is the German who is so The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle me upon any point which I do not make clear." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together