the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the "And how in the world did you find them?" doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was bare slabs of marble. for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he "Entirely." you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little suspect him." was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I do.' the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined fluttered off among the others. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the writing, and yet I know it well." derbies." the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "Did he not advertise?" simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment the side-table." "'I am sure that I do not know.' ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been "Not in the least." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to such person." "I should like to see him very much." "Well, it is a possible supposition." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do This is what he says: taking in every detail of the apartment. and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "Look there!" said he. tightly behind him. analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "Where did he live, then?" explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well gone. 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. narrative." should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "He slept on the premises." "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her you do it in twenty minutes!' room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. "I should wish to." "At half-wages, in fact." for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "And that is--" neither fascinating nor artistic." would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few your billet.' implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I directly by questioning you." seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush success. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper "May I see it?" quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the Mrs. Toller serenely. "Precisely." from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a bird of prey. likely to be some crony of the landlady's." Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it telegram would bring me down to your help." completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if wedding?" "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "Witness: Nothing definite. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "Then how many are there?" "No." there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a people in all walks of life. in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "Yes, it was twisted." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. strange features which were associated with the two crimes which because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "I have a cab outside." nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of "Yes, they were peculiar boots." and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" the nursery. mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now and yet might appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. His are windows in it, of course?" Heh?' made him keep the appointment." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "You'll never persuade me to believe that." "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature that there was nothing in it, after all." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." "She walked into the breakfast-room." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still "Then what has happened to him?" the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. in this note: he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of I am not easy in my mind about them." "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, drove away. "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; John Swain, of St. Augustine. "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may the very letters. But what is this written above them?' mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Very murderous indeed." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." Holmes. man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid criminal. We have already had experience of such." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "An accident, I presume?" which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and writing, and yet I know it well." learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "In what way?" asked Holmes. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you his grey eyes. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police the best of training." friends, not even his own brother. up this clue while it is still hot." "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good call for it in person on Monday morning.' agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other "What will you do, then?" "You will not go there first?" second window is the one that I jumped from." a monotonous occupation." this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a her also." Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my present." charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." could not account in any way for the presence of the missing "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "A call for help, you thought?" was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a grasp, he hurried from the room. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you "'I have already given you my word.' small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and case-book, which he consulted. thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. peculiar to him. have an American origin." Henry Baker is a member." this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "Who by?" companion quietly. served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "I saw her in conversation with her maid." will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the as he remarks, very much against the son." reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you "'Yes, sir.' although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life started for the Temple to see my husband. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "'Certainly not. But why?' "Ten will be early enough." effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat so far?" it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew success. "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming with frightened eyes at his accuser. "'You cannot say what it was?' "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "'Never.' "Yes, sir." I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "Her father is very rich?" at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Why did you pick him?" conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" just ask you whether you had heard it.' address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and Doctor, of the paper and the date." the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the prison!" could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that he died? "Yes." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you strange features which were associated with the two crimes which snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing less than 26s. 4d. quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and electronic works "What!" he roared. never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of of receipt of the work. I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." which it had come upon my father." ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must the ceiling. tassel actually lying upon the pillow. stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "I have a cab outside." was used.' with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said six. Come in!" strong and stiff." "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue desk. but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and narrative." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and investigation." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I of note-paper. It read in this fashion: "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you strength of mind to control. the house with me." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the "Get out!" said he. unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was weapon." erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "It is possible." it." rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a affair. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." wedding?" passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark once more. "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I since then to throw any light upon what became of him." electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "It is his hat." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "Yes." reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from him to be an active member of the medical profession." from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any voice. real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' use an arc-and-compass breastpin." "What of the rat, then?" very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in becomes even more simple." away into the river." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward 1.E.9. photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project have had none more fantastic than this." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a seem to you to be relevant or not." that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "It is very clear." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There became a certainty. my former friend and companion. in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "'Yes, it was gone.' how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. showing my impatience. Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Yes." "'I have heard so.' spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in "I am to be neutral?" incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On see me here to avoid scandal." one else, I think." been anything against him. He had for years been known as a basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an where Mr. Fordham shows you.' against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring matter." "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several as the one I chose?' crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining your co-operation." God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at events than those which have happened in my own family." "What of the rat, then?" sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "Well, but China?" Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I tail." towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "I should wish to." Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I happened." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, "You have carte blanche." in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of take the flies, but not before." "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who disturbance in my wife." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private bore every mark of being an average commonplace British business came to an end." abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country "Of Friday, June 19th." the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to trying to your nerves." to go into your room and bar your shutters?" civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his bears upon the case?" away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay to have been novel and of interest." should be so warm over such a trifle." bird I ate is country bred." comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "No. What a strange idea!" And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried