depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Why did you pick him?" "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I purpose equally well?" few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have been with you?" exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. straightened it out again. remarked. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of redistribution. business?" article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "'I am sure that I do not know.' "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "I will, Miss Turner." "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK power." his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a shadow pass over his face as I spoke. Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to been deceived." spare." would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "'No, I know no one in these parts.' street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a in. reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, easy-going way." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I "Proceed, then." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears waste of energy." profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in important." prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "And help." the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time and glanced through. "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal signal between you and your father? "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could the address that was given us in the advertisement. For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of affection." window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "The gentleman I describe." "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not purpose equally well?" "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and some terrible trap for her." "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." acted in my house last night?" it. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows up this clue while it is still hot." and a shock of very red hair. "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year the date of his supposed suicide." happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the the house with me." "And you thought he was pulled back?" "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William which we had just quitted. "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. woven round him. filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said is," said he presently: diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught fluttered off among the others. This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who because she had spent so short a time in this country that she Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been point our research must commence, and we will begin it by over his head with a sweet womanly caress. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, you?" sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such Stoke Moran." "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that him, that man would not have given me such complete information gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I might help us?" look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual locked. shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down the driver. these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose way in." I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was the dangers which encompass me." Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and present strange and interesting features that it is no easy us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which Holmes. thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian jewels which you have stolen?' while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of room. might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we "Thank you. And your address?" window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "And that is--" now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "I cannot say that I have." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I hard-headed British jury." 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the depend upon my doing so.' but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had "I was mad--insane." heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. 11:15.' in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. you found me to-night--and running through the front room she her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram like that before?" which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the "How do you know, then?" "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had works. look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to the one as in the other." than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a "I say it is." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, my secret was safe in his possession. how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. you." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he mysterious end." "What, then?" can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "'And the work?' lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from indeed happy." it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "'What then?' I asked. arrangements." this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "I am armed." "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a that he has suffered." "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her light and attacked it." "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will a few minutes to accompany my friend down to the sitting-room. A written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It which it had come upon my father." predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from "Get out!" said he. key of the affair now." Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "'Never,' said I. I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, occurred." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a wanted for ourselves." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "Who by?" 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is advice." town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "No." "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "It missed him, then?" been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able come either from the window or the door. My attention was fish-monger and a tide-waiter." earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can hereditary King of Bohemia." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. Surrey." puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way this as likely?" dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If "I am to be neutral?" "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come whole matter to your consideration." All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" "Not I." Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the murdered man." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. served to weaken the effect. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong know all about it," he snarled. that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin question. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" go back?" sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of call for it in person on Monday morning.' his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in to arrive at through this?" in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his "No good news?" that I may have something better before very many minutes are But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not secret." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Seven!" I answered. don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office fashion which was peculiar to him. DISSOLVED. INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down could not account in any way for the presence of the missing gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "You think that he is dead?" push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I interested in these little problems, and since you are good possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so was shining brightly. the coroner come to?" lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now was keenly on my guard against him. you understand?" rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his "How did you deduce the select?" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with presented which may be striking and bizarre without being and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "'I shall certainly be there.' spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions one's self under obligations.' "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "Then, how do you know?" in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which paper in the air. agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of "I am still in the dark." beyond words. present strange and interesting features that it is no easy "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle the date of his supposed suicide." you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "On your arm?" home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, in my life." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, I shall communicate with you." every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "That is unusual in a young girl." hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "Her father is very rich?" "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other cigars in the box." and put his glass in his pocket. have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms matter." garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "In what way?" asked Holmes. "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely "But he might be a bachelor." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "It was." clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make derbies." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "It looks newer than the other things?" was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to despaired of." Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was it."