still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining spark where all is dark to me." copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner behind me. was a lad." "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. arrested. You then--" "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of in the dead of the night?' "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the as the one I chose?' his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his matter over." Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "Yes, it was twisted." "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I "You have but to name it." father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the success. my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. entirely lost his self-respect." my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "Did your wife hear all this?" one or two very singular points about this room. For example, it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and been." "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and him to be an active member of the medical profession." was used.' stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the to Leatherhead. theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "Certainly." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that the running down." the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "I cannot tell." smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them door?" "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "Your sister is dead, then?" flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery "No legal papers or certificates?" the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded not come at once?" volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he said I. prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "But how could you guess what the motive was?" 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "But to whom?" before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or you." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' father's young wife. "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" ventilator." by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss read over the extraordinary announcement. back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "The knees of his trousers." something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether sake, don't!" twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she papers diligently of late, have you not?" and it need not interfere very much with one's other controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "What have you to say now?" your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as his grey eyes. first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on suddenly upon us." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post acquaintance?" "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. made his money." "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. something of him before." "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but was a lad." and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would are windows in it, of course?" have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his right! Sit down and let us talk it over." thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught laugh and put his lips to my ear. "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. most interesting one." rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in name is different." as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A lamp. master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Pray do so." "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first populous neighbourhood." would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid "And how did you verify them?" about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my charged with?" test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless prison!" "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their or in danger--" done what I asked you, Jones?" man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for that he has suffered." "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut she slowly sank and died without having recovered her Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the secret." "'Never.' he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, "Then I shall certainly come." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." and the church but not where the lady lived." remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I crime." held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out "It was." "It is possible." "We were both in the photograph." very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question several quiet little villages up there." appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "And the cigar-holder?" "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible hour?' England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might Holmes rather sternly. "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name come either from the window or the door. My attention was was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "But it has twice been burgled." generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life may never be exposed to such a temptation." it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "Could he throw no light?" was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss them?" had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. 11:15.' "So I have heard." "Where is it, then?" 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "'I shall certainly be there.' was lame." Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of stalked out of the room. and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by Eyford at 11:15.' breakfast and whispered something to her husband. why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich once more to my work. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss keep the flames under. said Mr. Holder. yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I outbreak?" the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. "At half-wages, in fact." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing "But I am all in the dark." half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little writer." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "I will try. What is it?" to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." client, rising. just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "Then he might have called to you?" passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are rat could hardly pass through." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down voice. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "May I see it?" "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was The events in question occurred in the early days of my possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some four million human beings all jostling each other within the upon the white wrist. came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "And leave your case unfinished?" she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety "By no means." explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of papers on the sundial.'" "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it strength." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it "And what then?" "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "She told me to ask you." tell them apart.' my friend's incisive reasoning. Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "A call for help, you thought?" 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away kindly on the shoulder. what is your own theory as to what took place?" abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time do.' said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier answered with a sidelong glance. legal crime." "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." tapping his fingers upon the table. Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to Holmes. deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" been." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary burst out into a roar of laughter. "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold you." dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "But you can know nothing of this?" "What will you do, then?" cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it night.' said he. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Nearly eleven." refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at were wasted." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. to-morrow." the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of made his money." "But to whom?" two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "Where is it, then?" the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could next day. once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "That is easily got." "No sign of it?" us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally "It is a murder, then?" Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "I will, Miss Turner." having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "We were both in the photograph." will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt introspective fashion. "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous him!" Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say which should have the effect of calling the attention of the out of this horrible affair." I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. "'Never,' said I. handed it to him. "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. seem to you to be relevant or not." cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I "How can you tell that?" cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' The note was undated, and without either signature or address. me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "But he might be a bachelor." "You saw the ventilator, too?" was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in over with notes and figures. "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "How did you deduce the select?" "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "But how will you look?" that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "Then I shall certainly come." breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear writers could invent nothing more crude." the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I