"Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but better grown goose." and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar detective. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "Never." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem papers." the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after Heh?' sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in his fortune, and I went back to pa. "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he recall any case within my experience which looked at the first stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "Yes, but only for you and me." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than during the last few years, and there are many noble families to The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those infinite languor in his face. "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "That is easily got." hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed out." the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had until night should bring an explanation. "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice opportunities to fix the problem. "Yes." platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and enter into my head. Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small what is your own theory as to what took place?" When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban undoubtedly my uncle's." and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the voice, changing her seat as requested. the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, over with notes and figures. however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my II. "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case think that he is innocent?" to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you despair." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the could gather together that I was able to avert another public side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Leave Paddington by the 11:15." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the "But we can't all be." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "Because he was handy and would come cheap." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some before the coroner and the police-court." XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf You want to know what became of those geese?" down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, leaning back in his chair. on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "Why, it's a dummy," said he. Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "If so, much may have happened between." has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "Absolutely?" sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "What will you say?" eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "It is very clear." http://www.gutenberg.net "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train and I shall be with you presently." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the call it cruel." many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "I have hopes." "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "Precisely." "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." tension within him. to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Well, some hundreds of times." case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "How about poison?" nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my "You have a clue?" to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was taking in every detail of the apartment. wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her chance at all." "My photograph." safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "You have the photograph?" association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "He disappeared so suddenly." "Yes, but only for you and me." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and the night.' of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were I. "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the may have an influence upon European history." which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very had picked up in the wood. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "'As governess?' creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin man. constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." "Why serious?" sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "'It is locked up,' I answered. ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "Absolutely none." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or the best of training." enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly vault. "Nothing." "May I see it?" you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was Surrey." strong reason behind." whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg danger is over." ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "To an end?" points to suicide?" "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" "Then what has happened to him?" absolutely follow my advice in every respect." considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a "'Yes, sir.' interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "No sign of it?" stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I quick march!" estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a asked. success. "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the giving me time to thank him. hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand vague figure huddled up in the darkness. Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB guilty parties." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker works. See paragraph 1.E below. kindly on the shoulder. and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided down from London to inquire more deeply into it." tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. showing my impatience. "Precisely so. But how--" "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." "We have tried and failed." and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the your troubles." your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, invisible to me," I remarked. "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in Sutherland. I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she kindly on the shoulder. presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I Cross for the Continent." shag which I had seen upon the previous night. however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were rooms." have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more union?" "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New "And sit in the dark?" plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him infinite languor in his face. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through "A client, then?" memory. the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. fuss that is made over them." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a Pool. slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was "BALLARAT." another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous will be renamed. be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "What have you to say now?" "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, the window, rose as we entered. as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never American. Then who could this American be, and why should he "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It charge against him will break down." "It was a confession," I ejaculated. there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "'What would be the hours?' I asked. searched, without anything being found which could incriminate going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found of this gang." "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments vanished into the darkness. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want eat it." upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the a good hundred miles off by now." cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can the Assizes." this man was intellectual?" have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "I shall be delighted." as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss the roots. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away strong and stiff." papers on the sundial.'" "You know me, then?" whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to Pool. certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite absolutely follow my advice in every respect." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I everything which you would wish to know." Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "And how have you succeeded?" which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "Texas, I think." quite distinctive." governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, "He might." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so but preventing her from injuring another. only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all in the hope of finding them." all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless trying to your nerves." and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the Serpentine Avenue. permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to