many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his returning from some small jollification and was making his way "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," stalked out of the room. "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the very morning of my second wedding." arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and should be so warm over such a trifle." - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried "I was afraid that you were engaged." long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and that you can jump it.' anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the spare." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building which was all perfectly true. "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he national property. I was determined that the law should have its last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are guilty parties." would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. in a friendly supper." outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what crowd. "Well." which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary whereabouts. conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. such attractions and accomplishments?' age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He this unhappy family?" at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle there!' it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the footfalls from the street. certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "You are all wrong." "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during cigars in the box." tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew to-night?' it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I and capable of preserving a secret.' The King stared at him in amazement. despair." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "Yes, only one." confronted him. "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. strode off upon his way. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which have established a very serious case against the son of the "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father quick march!" He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "I will get her to show me." ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "How can you tell that?" "Is he quiet?" from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. not use it unless it is absolutely needed." now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall you." mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "Yes." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees emerged. sooner or later she must fall a victim. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." guilty one." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of second." introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations the coronet in his hands?" "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be his huge brown hands. soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "'Where could I find him?' lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." enter Dr. Roylott's room." nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "'What then?' I asked. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to ourselves in the office." "And I to find an enemy." child?' "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you this Miss Turner." death." were wasted." and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a held up the lantern and gazed about him. the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for point in the dark hollow of his hand. "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the upon the shelf for the interim." which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in a little more before I quite committed myself. Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "You did not overhear what they said?" deduce something from that?" You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "Then I do not see the point." side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "What!" he roared. attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most 'please.'" step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. future lives." "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that tied." "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. "Were they all fastened this morning?" should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has "She walked into the breakfast-room." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, him to go away.' And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and was shining brightly. "Well?" Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors "I am all attention, madam." the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly dear old homesteads?" that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind pound a week." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and key of the affair now." burst out into a roar of laughter. me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my or other trace. But how on earth--" became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to other lovers by making love himself." as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect official police." "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the are, and they are waiting for us." very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "And what did you see?" saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help me." "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his You want to know what became of those geese?" "And when will you call?" behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "By all means." Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently "Certainly, madam." a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a there when the Rucastles went away." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and rooms." Again Holmes raved in the air. "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the "The vanishing of the lady." had formerly been in part my own. "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' green of the new foliage. with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to Heh?' "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "Not social, then?" "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. of Fenchurch Street." ways of our fellow-men." the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man "'Yes.' was already answered. thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "VIOLET HUNTER." handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the hand, madam?" "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish interest. They are important, you understand, without being criminal. We have already had experience of such." imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." him!" "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. best detective that ever lived. never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, You can understand that this register and diary may implicate him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the man. I know him from the photograph." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of tightly behind him. about here speaks of his kindness to him." brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. tightly behind him. country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face things are very often connected not with the larger but with the to-night." herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, said he. then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon "But what is it you wish?" allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the During two years I have had three consultations and one small been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' cost them two and thirty pounds." particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a standing smiling on the door-step. first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked eavesdroppers?' "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" know what is wrong with it.' provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be of the efforts of the United States government and of the better (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were and have this put in the evening papers." Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." that, and I came down." dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood been anything against him. He had for years been known as a me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "I cannot think." was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such Project Gutenberg-tm works. front of the hall door has given its name to the place. When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, of this gang." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "There is the writing." adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "But you were on a friendly footing?" by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback gone. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons "No, distinctly professional." housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a see a sister of mine apply for." the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at she slowly sank and died without having recovered her morning." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of business came to an end." "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to towards the blaze. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were forebodings. "My own seal." "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy matters immensely." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were garden below. closely." address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, awaited us upon the table. the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham "I am still in the dark." was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to believe, however, that the full facts have never been revealed to so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "No." Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of there was no need for father to know." might help us?" lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." and it need not interfere very much with one's other reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his it." points to suicide?" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at knowledge of the world." "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Did your wife hear all this?" have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their without success. At last the little money which I had saved began furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "No." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You to-night?' I held the little printed slip to the light. abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no read it out to me." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "What! You do not mean bodies?" the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "She walked into the breakfast-room." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "Precisely."