though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Yes." hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On against a man in the prime of life?" vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all bachelor.' at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced in him." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil think that any burglar could have done. for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich beyond words. "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a some place of shelter and let the county police know what has and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring envelope. relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if about here speaks of his kindness to him." things are very often connected not with the larger but with the gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "From his hat?" And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this The King stared at him in amazement. states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," tell me that you intended to go into harness." of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "I was afraid that you were engaged." the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if help us in this matter." "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "No." would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' status with the IRS. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, south, for the country is more deserted there." railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and could gather together that I was able to avert another public emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he congratulate you again." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "It is very kind of you." "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." breakfast?" I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his night.' said he. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring noise which awoke you from your sleep?" this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a Pope's Court. blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." you?' confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "But what will you do?" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, I held the little printed slip to the light. upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser unprofitable." "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "But we can't all be." mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her enter into my head. PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" "I cannot as yet see any connection." "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home morning." In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "'What would be the hours?' I asked. passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed instincts rose up against that laugh. "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to anything to do with the matter?" "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "No, but the enclosure is." "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your "How about poison?" the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "'Stolen!' he cried. liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "None." be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in here." transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" companion quietly. matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" danger is over." window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her this man was intellectual?" deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is then?" see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his said I. This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "What can you not understand?" from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to you?" located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I with some details as to your case." perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the meant it for the best. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. gone before you can get him to hospital." absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely the inquest, and which are worth considering." each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. it." "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and "So I heard. You have him here?" therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, perplexity from it to my illustrious client. hand, madam?" if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on heavy and sharp instrument." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; voice, changing her seat as requested. business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' gigantic client. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Look there!" said he. clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a present." completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for anything to a woman, for she would have her way." either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to problems help me to do so." "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" closely." that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "I guessed as much." now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you horse could go." months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." The summons was a brief and urgent one. spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "No." "You are hungry," I remarked. long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say breakfast." we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that ways including including checks, online payments and credit card accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, that there was nothing in it, after all." just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might ways of our fellow-men." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or prisoner's face. the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, seven miles from Eyford Station.' and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past future lives." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "Come in!" said he. and a shock of very red hair. although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of everything which you would wish to know." shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and "Here?" address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "Not in the least." return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "Will you go?" of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, which are rolled in Rotterdam." into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our all-comprehensive glances. was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to before, for it was considerably after midnight. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to out of this horrible affair." nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now green of the new foliage. "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "No, thank goodness, she did not." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, conversation I have gathered that they have been married about papers diligently of late, have you not?" "Then I can wait in the next room." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two closing the door. bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This Eyford." however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in which our visitor detailed to us. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, washing it down with a long draught of water. possible that we could bring him back to her? reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped the very letters. But what is this written above them?' once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he him, that man would not have given me such complete information the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon Serpentine Avenue. look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is sake, don't!" surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Of Friday, June 19th." "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. past. "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "We must have a cab." call for it in person on Monday morning.' "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob bare slabs of marble. to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." walking." Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "I will, Miss Turner." question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "Yes." "I should like to see him very much." she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the suddenly upon us." woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he good for you to do.' "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had our word." "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." walking." diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit his eyes and forehead. "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but himself to tell his story. but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "You have a clue?" course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every might have a private word with us. do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white page at http://pglaf.org locked. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to easy-going way." pierced for earrings?" familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a straighten it?" outside." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The seen the man in the road." many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to the dangers which encompass me." look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "'Never,' said I. but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an the matter?" have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are forebodings. of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "I came to find a friend." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but are, and they are waiting for us." which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "What steps will you take?" I asked. Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he brandy and water within his reach. great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One "But how?" "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever rooms." of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "Did you observe the colour?" eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 I approached. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no