intimate personal affairs in this public manner." step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near locked." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the nights." appeared upon the scene." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off could not account in any way for the presence of the missing derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is directors have had misgivings upon the subject." With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the enough to aid us in our search." credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have purpose equally well?" Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the noise which awoke you from your sleep?" come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible plantation.' But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given bedroom door." "Dr. Becher's." seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "But we can't all be." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much "Why did you pick him?" finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day heavily into it. "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "What can you not understand?" focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as bird of prey. "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not round and wave him away like that.' electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days was used.' coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots matter over." "'There is a drive, then?' served to weaken the effect. feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the extraordinary contortions. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital promised to bring home. one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the again." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By garden below. scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light nonsense.' was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." "And is that all?" staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "No, but the enclosure is." "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address his face which made him a very different person to the round, "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been locked." "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a go--none." same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do of your young ladies.' unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read locked. like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram with you?" "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "It may not come to that," said Holmes. front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks may have an influence upon European history." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the indiscretion." Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "How did he come?" on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian one of them." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "Well, it is a possible supposition." "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be "'In my own bureau.' an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. now. It seems that there had been some informality about their absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" tightly behind him. attention." the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a answered with a sidelong glance. "Upon what point?" grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came you, my dear young lady?' "Yes, certainly." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "But we can't all be." "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who with you alone." who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" indeed happy." whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug very peculiar words of the dying woman?" 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it than was visible to me." no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves question," said Holmes, smiling. week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to one else, I think." The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "I know where it is." wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his again." his grey eyes. stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one legal crime." mystery!" drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "Can I be of assistance?" "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "The landlord of the Alpha." "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do brought there to personate someone, and the real person is save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "'I have heard so.' out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "Certainly, madam." "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning society." new duties?' "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, your sleep?' "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it your billet.' spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I shall use the carriage to-night." pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something in one or two places in England?' asked. relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting six. Come in!" charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then the house with me." the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. "Witness: It was. the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, the stones. ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled to a more successful conclusion." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to "Pray do so." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way key of the affair now." possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from chill to my heart. from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently address. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. residence of the great financier. photograph a cabinet?" "To an end?" "That you are never beaten." if only as a check to my own memory." "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Yes, that is the Crown." "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "You know me, then?" it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still his grey eyes. "Imitated." some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob "Stoke Moran?" said he. lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I for securing the situation." "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical I leave." green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have one which it was hard to resist. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, beyond words. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of success. been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "Certainly, madam." fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "May I see it?" return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the ill-usage at the hands of fortune. passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me fattened it expressly for you.' Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "My own seal." lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked Project Gutenberg-tm works. "None. Neville wrote those words." days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It situation." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most enough to aid us in our search." Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I "I have seen the police." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "About a month then." should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to burst into a hearty fit of laughter. when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "Then I shall certainly come." done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the your co-operation." to arrive at through this?" whereabouts. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into and glanced through. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' "Witness: Nothing definite. then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your congratulate you again." "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly bill, which interests me deeply." the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is man. I know him from the photograph." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. "And for present expenses?" "Well, but China?" "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "Why did you beat the pavement?" finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable "It is no ordinary one." "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in call you and give you the chance." speckled band?" "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to daring than any effort of the imagination." leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and indeed which he could not unravel. you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry which our visitor detailed to us. relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to not as remarkable as your advertisement." as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of which should have the effect of calling the attention of the http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "'Is 4 pounds a week.' it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "Where did he live, then?" "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what good-night and bustled off upon her way. drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, might help us?" walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Bought." desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed About nine o'clock the light among the trees was extinguished, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the was shining brightly. guilty one." visitors." their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable than was visible to me." which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however,