"Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed characteristics, but those are the more obvious." brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was seem to you to be relevant or not." significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "But your client--" when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear business came to an end." total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little true." brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "She will not sell." "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose wall." rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she amused." than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in what these perils are?" "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my "Two days later this same performance was gone through under There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the goes." detective. "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the over his head with a sweet womanly caress. "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last or other trace. But how on earth--" in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great to you." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found before, for it was considerably after midnight. marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a cigars in the box." was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you the running down." that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa "And is that all?" that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "I will get her to show me." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their crackling voice. "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes have established a very serious case against the son of the for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "And who is her maid?" doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when looking up at the numbers of the houses." "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "And it is--" were new raised from a basin. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "What are they?" ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an recall any case within my experience which looked at the first opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, to change my dress. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself information in his hands the value of which he did not himself will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at "Certainly, madam." his grey eyes. "And how?" that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who again on its way. "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must acted in my house last night?" "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over "My last client of the sort was a king." their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where amused." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his confronted him. rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a murdered man." strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. your co-operation." had died away into the silence from which it rose. pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet salesman. girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "'I have heard so.' "No bad?" gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an hardly wander." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project intrusion of other matters." photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the legal crime." bare slabs of marble. "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "Certainly." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I strong reason behind." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "An enemy?" "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "Yes, sir." "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "Ample." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "You think that he is dead?" "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." salesman. in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to "I cannot tell." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I "But I have heard all that you have heard." to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his that "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You "Yes, all." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the might have a private word with us. base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand I leave." I shall continue with my miserable story. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard records." answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "Perhaps we may make them less so." "Nothing?" They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "I should like to see him very much." said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are together. "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, that I am arrested." received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "That you are never beaten." and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "My stepfather's business papers." of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was Munro.' round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms "I was certainly surprised to find you there." heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." you." side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" that I can to serve you." "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of only touch the interest." always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look easy-going way." matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the hard-headed British jury." he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your client, rising. and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "'Yes, it was gone.' one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "No?" himself in a perplexing position. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you will be renamed. his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "A greater distance to travel." my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "She told me to ask you." livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "Certainly, madam." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the morning." a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that silent! Oh, he will be silent!' nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the better grown goose." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently eat it." slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in this remarkable episode. was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging directors have had misgivings upon the subject." window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some written. every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so wanted for ourselves." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour down. once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "'Yes.' purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards the inquest, and which are worth considering." course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, himself. passage and a tap at the door. has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the to go into your room and bar your shutters?" enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a me, and I could not think that his explanation of the side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "Where, then, is my wife?" it. passage and a tap at the door. To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "May I see it?" commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and maiden herself was most instructive." the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled other, as fresh and trim as possible. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three be. the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I could not account in any way for the presence of the missing creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "I answered that I had not. Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" into the room. "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical village inn over there?" ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to some terrible trap for her." voice. imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with asked. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a During two years I have had three consultations and one small "I will try. What is it?" hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, in him." confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs good-night and bustled off upon her way. the address that was given us in the advertisement. our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some Farm upon the left." this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most suspect him." "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I back to my heart. appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for the south-west, I see." present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the shadow pass over his face as I spoke. had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a reach." alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Proceed, then." "On Monday." simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each lamp. thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. him." singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing "Then I can wait in the next room." the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "Pray be precise as to details," said he. residence of the great financier. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to ways of our fellow-men." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It troubles have been weighing upon his mind. compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive amused." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that "We have tried and failed." law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or 1.F. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened