then?" considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no if she died from some sudden fright." to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "What can it mean?" I gasped. gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "Frequently." "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. held up the lantern and gazed about him. there has been an enclosure here!" "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she interest. They are important, you understand, without being to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive secret." his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do on in his house." Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "No." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is it." The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from room. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the not personally threatened." my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the said he at last. goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, cigars in their mouths. "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where 'please.'" "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob whole matter to your consideration." Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." village inn over there?" upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. be there in time for your coming." is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to Farm upon the left." point our research must commence, and we will begin it by makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he the inquest, and which are worth considering." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "You are hungry," I remarked. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "I was afraid that you were engaged." "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning she might be summoned. refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side three of the beryls in it, was missing. sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "Was there a secret marriage?" your most interesting statement." "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. coat-tails." follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "My dear Holmes!" a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I the side-table." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "'Is purely nominal.' discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must and effective." scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the is," said he presently: "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll I shall continue with my miserable story. here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, Again Holmes raved in the air. - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did dramatic, in fact." business in the City. She little knew what. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these arrangements." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "Was the window open?" she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is had a long day." "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "You forget that I know nothing about it." sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying results." his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have "Yes." not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of you, my dear young lady?' the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "In heaven's name, what for?" Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might "No, distinctly professional." follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" works. It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how my former friend and companion. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally main points of my analysis." something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing to-night?" I asked. forehead. (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every if you convince the police authorities that there is no possible upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with memory. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "Why? What do you mean?" were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two very peculiar words of the dying woman?" In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." your sleep?' "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. papers must be those that are destroyed.' He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "But not more so than I to find you." even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the "I am about to be married." murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A leave you to your papers for a little." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "I am all attention, madam." or other trace. But how on earth--" come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what prisoner's face. guilty parties." "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he jewels which you have stolen?' Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "I am in hopes that she does." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the directors, with the result that you have seen." Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, rat could hardly pass through." "A confidential servant?" quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "Well, but China?" sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander "None." We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the within hail.' square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking felt the room to be a little close.' reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from which we had just quitted. smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle hopeless attempt at recovering them." forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "'Never,' said I. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite made his money." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get name is different." tapping his fingers upon the table. it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. chair. pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him the iron safe, which he closed upon it. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the least a fellow-countryman. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of in this note: "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of electronic works furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich I nodded to show that I had heard. your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us and effective." "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. she used." point our research must commence, and we will begin it by redistribution. than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed detained." about here speaks of his kindness to him." bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, again, where I was soon asleep. affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of light and attacked it." examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," evidence," I remarked. and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel Pope's Court. learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a invisible to me," I remarked. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. friend's singular character. his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from of it with the greatest attention. or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over "You did not overhear what they said?" "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "At what time?" "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before was not a bird to be seen there. little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and what these perils are?" to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of not use it unless it is absolutely needed." "On the contrary, this is the right side." watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was later, upon the night of May 2nd." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "And on what day did he meet his death?" "And that is--" long narrative. have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that coroner's jury." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself o'clock is it?" just called myself is not exactly my own." window when the police appeared." gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the a very grave face. bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa despaired of." that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "'Yes.' should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord friend's singular character. look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "I cannot imagine." enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded away to you." Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, point our research must commence, and we will begin it by case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the to have been novel and of interest." thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply other lovers by making love himself." wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, behind me. effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to way in everything. unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "By no means." "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, "But you have hopes?" "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some must compliment you." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." here and I will read it to you: exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe said he. "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is details should find their way into the papers. Inspector noble correspondent could be. "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "Then the page we have seen--" to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "Nothing." "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "I cannot as yet see any connection." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "'Yes, sir.' not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and golden eyeglasses. infinite languor in his face. written. "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet know all about it," he snarled. Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; soul! here is her carriage at the door." shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through thin, with a long, sharp nose?" quite distinctive." I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Why, what do you mean?" journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied go--none." "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be more terrible than the truth. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak families. Now for the facts. this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "You were travelling in the States?" money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "None. Neville wrote those words." States. "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "In heaven's name, what for?" and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss suggested at once that there must be a communication between the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be other means.' that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. is now desirous of getting those letters back." where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "Thank you. And your address?" "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "This photograph!" travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and