chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very it." "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not you do it in twenty minutes!' name is different." "That sounds a little paradoxical." hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, humiliation." arrested. You then--" All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, the ceiling. thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to shag which I had seen upon the previous night. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can this unhappy family?" him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses enter Dr. Roylott's room." nights." that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained "Very murderous indeed." pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which silent! Oh, he will be silent!' present." lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand the best of training." secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their way in everything. silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "You are certainly joking, Holmes." eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as it." observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and unclasping of his long thin hands. Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "Oh, yes, easily." Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his kind enough to tell me what I should do." newspaper selections." It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "It is true that I have been generally successful." would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with as this. Pray let me have the details." we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and ceremony." "You will not go there first?" peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in coroner's jury." Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the 'I should be able to look after that for you.' about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing been deceived." all?" long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do and glanced through. "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of McCarthy." "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given "Yes." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich directors, with the result that you have seen." labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles window when the police appeared." quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, is four-and-twenty." "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. purpose of examination. "'Why that?' I asks. telegram would bring me down to your help." danger is over." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "Yes." "'There is a drive, then?' This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." villagers almost as much as their master. "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive breakfast and whispered something to her husband. The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon straightened it out again. generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I opened the door, and slipped through. wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular humiliation." Holmes rather sternly. despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "My dear Holmes!" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by morning." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled a good hundred miles off by now." floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black to-night." a very grave face. "Witness: It was. edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away direction." it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. face and glided from the room. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the chemical work which was so dear to him. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. "Precisely so. But how--" THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular chamber." him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as to-night's adventure." crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I "But to whom?" little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "'You doubt its value?' he asked. Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from signal between you and your father? of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every very peculiar words of the dying woman?" yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bird of prey. "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which furiously. work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, the room while you explain this matter?" I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, his face which made him a very different person to the round, hurried by. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your his grey eyes. Lee, in the county of Kent." "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or have got?" "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "The gentleman I describe." "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "And that is--" waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! quickly through a disagreeable task. forebodings. fire. You quite follow me?" Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. This is what he says: whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, examine." "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, leaning back in his chair. I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, "I see many objections to any such theory." "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." there were one or two details which were new to me. But the noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a said Mr. Holder. and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "'And what salary do you ask?' all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. done what I asked you, Jones?" very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "But how did you gain them?" Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "I have hopes." more terrible than the truth. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have you." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the where she found matters as described by the last witness. Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "It must be recovered." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "Yes, sir." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "'Not at all. I only doubt--' "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and your troubles." stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would directly by questioning you." off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord call for it in person on Monday morning.' I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "I don't believe it." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts empty. the little opening for the ventilator is." "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be not use it unless it is absolutely needed." very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural front of me. back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but think that he is innocent?" and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "'Ten to two.' would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe the Red-headed League." were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat desk. money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE works. "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the directly by questioning you." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country lamp in his hand. but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an know that the truth is known." "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "An accident, I presume?" Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." will he say when he returns?" Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is second." hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it think you a quite exceptional woman." "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the look upon these things in a different way." "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "Well." "Yes, I have one waiting." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the that?' "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "The best possible." child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear waste of energy." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "I am in hopes that she does." wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid used to be." received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was throat." have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, "Was he the only applicant?" Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men Mrs. Toller serenely. Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis speckled band?" recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the "So I am. Very much so." which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a friend's singular character. more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his very old mansion. time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by yet." Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of "Yes." thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached forecastle of an emigrant ship. "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "Entirely." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "Not yet." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "My dear Holmes!" "'Never,' said I. future lives." "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the his face. This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. are, I think, all that we need." request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up fled together." grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was that?' and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before directors, with the result that you have seen." villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. of the way of danger. very peculiar words of the dying woman?" donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate to that open window." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with daring than any effort of the imagination." Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would nothing of it?" horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring