gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know bore every mark of being an average commonplace British slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, Have you good authority for what you say?" my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: "Yes, they were peculiar boots." manager. For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy true." "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. the best of training." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed the King without delay." "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "And how have you succeeded?" whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of "And your mother is alive?" together. "Nothing." "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Yes." posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "You know me, then?" works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so roused himself from his reverie. And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "A confidential servant?" 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be my friend's incisive reasoning. a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless morning." Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her which it had come upon my father." with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the second window is the one that I jumped from." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out presented more singular features than that which was associated state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "And now?" He raised his hand. son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "But of what society?" of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "Then I am your man." through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it "An enemy?" deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The flock.' should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening "And your mother is alive?" room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never plantation.' us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was that before taking the final step I should like to submit the sooner or later she must fall a victim. merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could "I will do it." the driver. a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which yet." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been His smile broadened. "And is that all?" do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "But she could not love him." voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, Holmes' room. "Then he might have called to you?" through." tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "One of the highest in England." prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "Have you it here?" day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. photograph?" after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning over part of the map. "What do you read?" arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "How did you deduce the select?" behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but in one or two places in England?' the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "Quite so. She has her freedom." Where does the thing come from?' what do you think they found in the pockets?" subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped "Pray continue your narrative." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if with her." "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! amused." located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from husband's writing, madam." companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered train from Paddington which would bring you there at about younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than The police have openly confessed that they can at present make she slowly sank and died without having recovered her come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique we went to search for him, face downward in a little trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been might have a private word with us. the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the affair. "But his left-handedness." "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after "You think so, too?" Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "And did you observe any change in her then?" south, for the country is more deserted there." "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "One of the highest in England." which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "And now?" I asked. geese which you supplied to the Alpha." "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the heavy and sharp instrument." shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "Nothing." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "I was sure that I might rely on you." slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. Dr. Gregory B. Newby or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "Perhaps I have." breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his girl said." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet some place of shelter and let the county police know what has in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "He slept on the premises." It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "And you can do nothing until then?" happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "My Mary? Impossible!" the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "No more words. Get out!" such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "Yesterday." said I. think you a quite exceptional woman." the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "You horrify me!" had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the guilty parties." where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." sparkled upon his finger. "'And what salary do you ask?' woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, investigation." there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "Only as much as we can deduce." beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I appeal." their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, Have you good authority for what you say?" "My photograph." Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk extraordinary contortions. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling prepare for the new role I have to play." at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his "It is possible." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the arrangements." highroad, where all traces were lost. "I cannot think." "Whose house is it?" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "We were both in the photograph." Sutherland?" "Well, but China?" "He said that you could solve anything." from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' "But what harm can there be in that?" There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "But how?" "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard Stoke Moran." chill to my heart. usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell Farm upon the left." "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Where, then, is my wife?" "I cannot say that I have." George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil your most interesting statement." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "The murder was done with it." glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "Well, but China?" with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." ventilator." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than them present such singular features as the strange train of "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can The police have openly confessed that they can at present make and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the is," said he presently: clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work when your master had gone out." "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Have you her photograph?" has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, forbidden door. before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "You horrify me." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you never will be, entirely cleared up. Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's narrative." "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "Yes." "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements there were one or two details which were new to me. But the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. It may be so in this case, also." including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have papers must be those that are destroyed.' one which it was hard to resist. at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time formed some opinion?" home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan to tell." "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning is four-and-twenty." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to of the efforts of the United States government and of the better papers." "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been humiliation." "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew father's young wife. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the again on its way. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." some city in a dream. "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him bearing upon the case." "And your father? Did you tell him?" of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence the coronet in his hand?" "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he sneer upon his pale face. completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the may never be exposed to such a temptation." you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the to his chemical studies. either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He such person." Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "What are they?" "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "Very murderous indeed." upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by "But she could not love him." "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from more solid." Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the meanly of me." superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" asked. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER the best of training." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke attention." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "'Most admirably.' southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their with you alone." visitors." innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make for its centre. light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "No." process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking