to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "I cannot tell." keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love criminal. We have already had experience of such." with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Nothing?" the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has License. You must require such a user to return or that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "A call for help, you thought?" to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both any little problem which you may submit to me." "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, Pope's Court. lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and forecastle of an emigrant ship. tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "Then what has happened to him?" an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and know what is wrong with it.' anything to do with the matter?" follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "And help." said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "None." the coronet in his hand?" there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "And help." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some presented which may be striking and bizarre without being head. So long, then!" and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' said I. be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the own family. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the my special province." him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it rat could hardly pass through." have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a to-night." They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now showing my impatience. classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "That is possible." the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. people in all walks of life. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination outside." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and light and attacked it." corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other again, where I was soon asleep. to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in there is a decided draught." "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. was already answered. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the "Ah!" "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened discontent upon his features. should be so warm over such a trifle." research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than who was a member of your goose club." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to of the vacancies.' when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father the coronet in his hands?" "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would astonishment. job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he would then never go into court at all." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "Indeed! Whose, then?" the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend thought that she would have been so carried away." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something disturbance in my wife." Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer strength of mind to control. dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "No." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." congratulate you again." "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" down. strength in the others." believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you case before our client came into the room." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in tail." my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding "But what will you do?" that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two papers." Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the loss of it. "What will you say?" what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the eat it." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "I think that I had better go, Holmes." o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose death." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom ran thus: "I cannot tell." having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was III. "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "But you can know nothing of this?" worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves upon a handsome competence. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had James Windibank. Voilà tout!" of a light. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "And you thought he was pulled back?" Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From was feeling which was the fattest.' your troubles." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in me upon any point which I do not make clear." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders answered with a sidelong glance. "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the again, where I was soon asleep. machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. brandy and water within his reach. myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my over with notes and figures. "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil directly by questioning you." the warnings." my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that depend upon my doing so.' nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at "'Then let me do so?' "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Here?" "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "And how did you verify them?" play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us and have this put in the evening papers." lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been said Mr. Holder. "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it was keenly on my guard against him. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian in the dead of the night?' crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's washing it down with a long draught of water. He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an "The Cedars?" I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I "You are hungry," I remarked. Again Holmes raved in the air. provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his about. examination of the premises, but without finding anything which as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me views." you want, then?' "No, thank goodness, she did not." them, and came down just as you departed. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "She showed me, as I told you she would." shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "What then?" Serpentine Avenue. have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's main points of my analysis." fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached "Here?" young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, depend upon your compliance." passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "'Ten to two.' heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. occupations.' unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you gone before you can get him to hospital." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "I do." an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence past. completely overtopped every other consideration that we both which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our "You did not overhear what they said?" you do it in twenty minutes!' has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "I should wish to." What do you deduce from it?" your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our "To an English lawyer named Norton." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I families. Now for the facts. about here speaks of his kindness to him." "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "Which are?" something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. lumber-room." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, "'Certainly not. But why?' man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I friends, not even his own brother. "'Ten to two.' to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the It was close upon four before the door opened, and a "It is his hat." possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. know that the truth is known." purpose of examination. can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in the stable lane now." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime very morning of my second wedding." "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while already referred to. "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "I am sure." follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and "The doctor?" fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "I assure you that I am in your hands." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact lectures into a series of tales." "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "But you were on a friendly footing?" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe his knees, staring into the fire. "Why serious?" like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when your Highness to the police-station?" wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would once more for Briony Lodge. drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "You did not overhear what they said?" concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous works. "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' locked. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, his knees, staring into the fire. story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered fat-encircled eyes. son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old the side-table." observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a "Proceed, then." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' there were one or two details which were new to me. But the weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible the address that was given us in the advertisement. others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are "But what harm can there be in that?" explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of The note was undated, and without either signature or address. thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small