that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless anything to a woman, for she would have her way." what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away "'Most admirably.' general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." if I call to-morrow?" "She showed me, as I told you she would." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I "And from a noble client?" reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an lost nothing by them." understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the http://gutenberg.net/license). with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. o'clock is it?" "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers thin, with a long, sharp nose?" might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Sutherland?" the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining thin, with a long, sharp nose?" Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "And from a noble client?" am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning will be renamed. outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking all?" one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but case-book, which he consulted. "Then how many are there?" do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY "Yes." every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I "But his lameness?" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my writing, and yet I know it well." Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, his grey eyes. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It His name is Francis Prosper." passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that "That was it, sir." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "Have you her photograph?" over with notes and figures. last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room newspaper selections." "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as I took the paper from him and read as follows: you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never just ask you whether you had heard it.' the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "Then, as to money?" from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had developed." "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" kind enough to tell me what I should do." with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this distance from the station, and there we found the young lady discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing if I call to-morrow?" just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here was it brought him the coronet? was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a the little opening for the ventilator is." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a any little problem which you may submit to me." the warnings." me, and I could not think that his explanation of the the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of if I call to-morrow?" The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, pierced for earrings?" "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable bell. Holmes whistled. Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "What have you done?" asked Holmes. be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been read it out to me." chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE article?" pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge shaken than I had ever seen him. instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen tension within him. "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and events, Mr. Windibank!" it? Did I buy the geese off you?" his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your was used.' Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "A confidential servant?" whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask these bleak autumnal evenings." profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "Entirely." this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to never came back." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." without a word or a look. hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of the coronet at all injured?" We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "And how did you find out?" this man was intellectual?" and looked back. police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight "And that is--" "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." brandy and water within his reach. than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the you give your casting vote to?" "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" vague figure huddled up in the darkness. his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a business came to an end." analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last as the one I chose?' that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful seen the man in the road." was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, developed." "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "I should wish to." lost nothing by them." The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was fasten all the windows?" The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. yards of it?' "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "So I am. Very much so." my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I corner of the building. you do it in twenty minutes!' "Then, how do you know?" turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you child?' came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of it." and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in "But how will you look?" but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not held up the lantern and gazed about him. ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not believe that I should never have any practice at all. in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "It came here." galvanised. I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big gives a meaning to it." "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have depend upon your compliance." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "I am sure." Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "I saw her in conversation with her maid." and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the "So I am. Very much so." "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, tear off another piece?' "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, key turn in the lock." London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "No." something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. power." statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project money should be paid at once.' practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many highly," said Holmes. of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain only touch the interest." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must meant." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "'What then?' I asked. Street. endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his the inner apartment." I held the little printed slip to the light. "And who is her maid?" investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "But he might be a bachelor." second." broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "I saw her in conversation with her maid." sit on the left-hand side of the driver." came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of foot. "You were travelling in the States?" conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "Did he not advertise?" her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that his knees, staring into the fire. and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a and glanced through. face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I 11:15.' held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in your room." more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you and all of them with the keenest interest. "She walked into the breakfast-room." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the "'Is purely nominal.' been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, sooner or later she must fall a victim. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another he bowed and left the room without another word. have an American origin." once more for Briony Lodge. father's place of business?" usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said The note was undated, and without either signature or address. same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him the one as in the other." "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been letters?" late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the any." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "'Ample.' and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some be. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I done what I asked you, Jones?" "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "Only as much as we can deduce." to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "'Which dealer's?' 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and enough to aid us in our search." say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." "ARAT," I read. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you maiden herself was most instructive." Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite the inner apartment." save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. do.' familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is