open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "It must be recovered." he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "This concluded the examination of the witness." as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every frequently gained my first real insight into the character of why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." once more. arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his absolutely follow my advice in every respect." informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "And your father? Did you tell him?" is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you returned to France?" We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up for and were ordered to this address. going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "One of the highest in England." "You have carte blanche." more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter long narrative. very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "Do you know him?" "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "Deserted you?" bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall "Your sister is dead, then?" gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." she has been waylaid. There has been no result." presented more singular features than that which was associated "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs what these perils are?" then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, is so. I know all about McCarthy." slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might is," said he presently: "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, and all of them with the keenest interest. used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in "'As governess?' sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who is a common subject for conversation. ourselves in the office." stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite other lovers by making love himself." the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I as he remarks, very much against the son." imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide here." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to like gravel from a pit.' "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a are, I think, all that we need." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "But she will refuse." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing "What then?" "VIOLET HUNTER." "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the of note-paper. It read in this fashion: Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it evidence," I remarked. propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point opened the door, and slipped through. glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of his huge brown hands. "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. corner of the building. "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for have one." has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for grasp, he hurried from the room. she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable in. gives a meaning to it." secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "Thank you. Pray proceed." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "They are typewritten," I remarked. about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to you." passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Only as much as we can deduce." "'Is purely nominal.' husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you neither fascinating nor artistic." the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker eat it." passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and that I am arrested." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and there when the Rucastles went away." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where business." "Your presence might be invaluable." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "Look there!" said he. lids now and glanced across at his visitor. the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." his wife has ceased to love him." the Friday. Was it to be in church?" "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But kind enough to tell me what I should do." not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country "I would give my fortune to have them back." in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we you in yours." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a to a more successful conclusion." Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very him and tried to hold him back. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or was already answered. but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "Which surely he restored to their owner?" nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger Gutenberg-tm License. brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my unclasping of his long thin hands. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "Why did you beat the pavement?" public press." never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the children over to America with him, so that I found myself without there has been an enclosure here!" and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save case before our client came into the room." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a him!" "Then what has happened to him?" edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "Here?" open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Yes." Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must the matter?" however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you said he, "my real name is James Ryder." me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." cause to be." even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, important." over part of the map. "What do you read?" individual and becomes the badge of a society." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that and the whole place is in a blaze." "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the system of imprisonment?" "Will you go?" corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back "'Is 4 pounds a week.' address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to help us in this matter." and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on nonsense.' "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and wall." towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind to a light-house. which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "An accident, I presume?" of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "And on what day did he meet his death?" "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' examination of the premises, but without finding anything which home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out "In the cells." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove of the vacancies.' "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "What! a murderous attack?" "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came may never be exposed to such a temptation." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but to miss it." "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout in this way: of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, handed it to him. affection." Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "Of Friday, June 19th." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. round and wave him away like that.' indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to fact, we may call it conclusive." Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at "I see no marks." near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though indeed which he could not unravel. "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must Young McCarthy must be got off, however." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible footfalls from the street. waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was within hail.' "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' fattened it expressly for you.' this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity there is a decided draught." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his him and tried to hold him back. neither fascinating nor artistic." still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and and glanced through. that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet "You heard nothing yourself last night?" other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly all-comprehensive glances. paper in the air. said he at last. "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had "She walked into the breakfast-room." until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "He is dead," cried several voices. in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never strength of mind to control. these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "Do you receive much company?" he asked. about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind straightened it out again. takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a out." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all pressing in one house as in another. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, to his chemical studies. had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of remarked. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for the coroner come to?" screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," up this clue while it is still hot." "They are typewritten," I remarked. test if we have an answer to our advertisement." going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. again." him. that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what imbecility!" he cried. "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' lamp. too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was sparkled upon his finger. reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "ARAT," I read. case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," be sorry for having acted so harshly." St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of man. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face away to you." after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for someone who had been in Australia." increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be exactly what you advise." "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too sneer upon his pale face. As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and during the last few years, and there are many noble families to himself to tell his story. "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would to have that photograph." without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance allusion to a rat. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, rose-bushes. address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom to take care of herself." although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of