starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, head. So long, then!" All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over fled together." turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "And did you observe any change in her then?" and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' recall any case within my experience which looked at the first myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on whether it answered to the description of any of their jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. to surprise her." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "And Miss Sutherland?" Does that suggest anything?" "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "No, I think that I'll take it." "I came to find a friend." James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "How long did she speak to this Alice?" scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY highroad, where all traces were lost. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "I am armed." cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "What then?" you?' the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made she has been waylaid. There has been no result." himself to tell his story. this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy Gutenberg-tm License. in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the behind me. "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "Why serious?" "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the used to be." he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three legal crime." moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not occupations.' yards of it?' enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The "And did you observe any change in her then?" mystery may be cleared along those lines." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, relation between them, and what the object of his repeated mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. suddenly upon us." sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong your bag." could not have written that. It is the German who is so sound at heart." which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "Yes, sir." "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an daring than any effort of the imagination." while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." o'clock is it?" pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project discontent upon his features. my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Then you may entirely rely on me." "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote ourselves in the office." I. with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "'Where could I find him?' "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." corner of the building. glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' weigh very heavily upon my conscience." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "And the murderer?" question you as to those details which seem to me to be most 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. matter." among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "It goes to the housekeeper's room." "Then, how do you know?" that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only be best to do. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm which I could not give. He asked for Alice. this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house key turn in the lock." compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence bears upon the case?" lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "You'll never persuade me to believe that." "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he to miss it." "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's lumber-room." always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever power." and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or burst into a hearty fit of laughter. answer." remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with so.' have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "But how?" explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew is worth.' other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., imbecility!" he cried. shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm "It is a murder, then?" expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The about here speaks of his kindness to him." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." things are very often connected not with the larger but with the paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes to his chemical studies. "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. into her hand at the door and which lured her within their explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "Well, some hundreds of times." "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise will he say when he returns?" concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on "'I have heard so.' and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your "'You doubt its value?' he asked. this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond was only one thing in it, but I am sure that you would never "I am all attention, madam." and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "They are typewritten," I remarked. pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over "How did you deduce the select?" "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a call for it in person on Monday morning.' presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. get her out of the way." is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was at once, for I have only half an hour." takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the I nodded to show that I had heard. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere "Then what has happened to him?" have been better. It is all right." His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave Pope's Court, Fleet Street." of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at dear old homesteads?" "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. Where does the thing come from?' myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was me where it went to?" newspaper selections." 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: observed. may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have stalked out of the room. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, be sorry for having acted so harshly." give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "Game for a morning drive?" these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like experiences." started for the Temple to see my husband. might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in absorbing." occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was gigantic client. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, she has been waylaid. There has been no result." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about asked. excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round the matter." mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite best detective that ever lived. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It who was a member of your goose club." appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "Precisely." and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately that I am arrested." 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this points in connection with it which never have been, and probably and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was light and attacked it." girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it most interesting one." over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a From what you have told me I think that it is possible that considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small cheerful." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless burst out into a roar of laughter. "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might the child." retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every obstinate." successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in What do you deduce from it?" evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty and your relations to her." "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the to surprise her." himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "Absolutely none." about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "Whose house is it?" his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about stammered. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in one else, I think." "No. What a strange idea!" noting anything else of interest. at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "You did not overhear what they said?" next day. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say hereditary King of Bohemia." face and glided from the room. places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." is acting for the best. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "And help." It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, that the gas is not laid on in his house?" slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there were unconscious?" she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "Yes." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then answered with a sidelong glance. I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second business." presume?" "And now?" I asked. Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with you." Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting lids now and glanced across at his visitor. I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." which our visitor detailed to us. stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "But it has twice been burgled." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are