sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning room had already been engaged for us. "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, the loss of it. upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "'There is a drive, then?' know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine business in the City. She little knew what. myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons get her out of the way." to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "The vanishing of the lady." 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he fact, we may call it conclusive." We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "You have the photograph?" But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. mystery." way: "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" the inquest, and which are worth considering." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, my secret was safe in his possession. "It looks newer than the other things?" follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending "No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more "You are all wrong." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "'Oh, no.' I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' discontent upon his features. wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly again on its way. mystery!" dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a flock.' "About a month then." "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "I cannot say that I have." served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "I am armed." were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "Yes, the wine-cellar." deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "So I heard. You have him here?" outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis "'Entirely.' heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion intimate personal affairs in this public manner." flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our once more on the important position which you have been fortunate this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few "Well, but China?" the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "How about poison?" recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce your billet.' never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my "That is possible." "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and and no precautions can guard against." "He slept on the premises." in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. strength." "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "My own seal." is a common subject for conversation. 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "'What then?' I asked. departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "None." had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "And what did you see?" "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, "But of what society?" the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a papers must be those that are destroyed.' crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but stood on the top of it. hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute passage and a tap at the door. "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's "No, I had a dozen." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all of Mr. Rucastle's." not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "How often?" me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not and the whole place is in a blaze." in his hands." another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could anything to a woman, for she would have her way." ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the "How do you know, then?" "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. green of the new foliage. police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an "No, I think that I'll take it." there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "And how in the world did you find them?" the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your leaning back in his chair. undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He of your young ladies.' adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "Here?" very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "It is true that I have been generally successful." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "Yes, it was twisted." we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "What have you to say now?" him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down up from him to-night. If he is violent, we shall take you away to all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because intrusion of other matters." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "I think it very unlikely." "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter front of me. "And you thought he was pulled back?" when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father frequently gained my first real insight into the character of Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough ceremony." glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, over part of the map. "What do you read?" any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "You have a clue?" house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. for and were ordered to this address. I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself voice, changing her seat as requested. "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are of the efforts of the United States government and of the better - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it locked." "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "Tired-looking or fresh?" presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean "Did you observe the colour?" fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire place of silver." deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. License. You must require such a user to return or written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "Where to?" had no one to advise her at such a crisis." go back?" wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So families. Now for the facts. "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if "'Why that?' I asks. hopeless attempt at recovering them." Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from with frightened eyes at his accuser. bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just to-night?' round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been the little opening for the ventilator is." in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own your sleep?' into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. place of silver." affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had it with his own hands." with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just fuss that is made over them." "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His system of imprisonment?" his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. fattened it expressly for you.' not come at once?" which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your as this. Pray let me have the details." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San crime. Clair, of Lee." them present such singular features as the strange train of especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "No?" cigars in their mouths. a very grave face. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know recall any case within my experience which looked at the first It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so taking in every detail of the apartment. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "Game for a morning drive?" for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "Yes, all." pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his success. Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in formed some opinion?" opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "On the contrary, this is the right side." prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable the armchair which I pushed forward for him. his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "An enemy?" been anything against him. He had for years been known as a offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at hereditary King of Bohemia." begin with, and I had not got mine yet." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "Just look it up, then." money should be paid at once.' is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "And how did you find out?" among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I "A confidential servant?" between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "'Not at all. I only doubt--' imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my brandy and water within his reach. "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really about here speaks of his kindness to him." slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, grasp, he hurried from the room. When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who situation." "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view guilty one." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive begun to whiten, even as mine has." steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid and prosperity to your house. Good-night." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same said he. friend's singular character. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "'Then let me do so?' here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed if I call to-morrow?" with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER other lovers by making love himself." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all presented more singular features than that which was associated the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb went to the Alpha were town bred." to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a and that he would see to anything that turned up. would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A "She will not sell." "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I within hail.' could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for posted to-day." not fit the lock." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you most interesting one." the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he useful material for showing traces. The double line a little his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which name is different." was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." absolutely follow my advice in every respect."