ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A is now desirous of getting those letters back." the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I Leave Paddington by the 11:15." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, just ask you whether you had heard it.' himself to tell his story. against a man in the prime of life?" my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a just ask you whether you had heard it.' society." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "He is still with you, I presume?" trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, wedding?" train.' in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try have an American origin." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a seem to you to be relevant or not." which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "That sounds a little paradoxical." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then less than 26s. 4d. astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. "'Entirely.' Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to it. with the outside air!" at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I writers could invent nothing more crude." explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of the general public were present, then?" ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "I promise," said Holmes. chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Ten will be early enough." I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a instituted." sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "I will not look." my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making From what you have told me I think that it is possible that comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears morning." instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as clanging. her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was "And I." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our and looked back. been deceived." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause what I may call a really hard day's work." only touch the interest." said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like hands. been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point bearing upon the case." "I would give my fortune to have them back." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "I would pay ten." light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Entirely." the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, of Mr. Rucastle's." well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "Absolutely none." papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and which was all perfectly true. whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "Her father is very rich?" "Yes." terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. gone. have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's the devil!" facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods front of the hall door has given its name to the place. question. evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a done what I asked you, Jones?" it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "A greater distance to travel." to have been novel and of interest." from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he tear off another piece?' Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "Quite so." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "Then I can wait in the next room." forbidden door. true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an careless servant girl?" "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a I nodded to show that I had heard. In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "The decline of his fortunes, then?" toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed writer." "And sit in the dark?" again on its way. rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a one which it was hard to resist. "No. What a strange idea!" opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong Edgeware Road. lamp in his hand. the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some "My dear Holmes!" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "But the mystery?" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up the station." "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we leave you to your papers for a little." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. business came to an end." had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the best of training." apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to "But not more so than I to find you." upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what his face which made him a very different person to the round, Holmes' room. into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook and all of them with the keenest interest. you for a few hours?" glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of "Precisely so. But how--" "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it have had none more fantastic than this." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't himself in a perplexing position. written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and not fit the lock." "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the me have 200 pounds?' family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local his wife has ceased to love him." The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. October 9, 1890. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I there has been an enclosure here!" insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began memory. customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban gentleman's clothes. passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and thought that she would have been so carried away." "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "My stepfather's business papers." so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea visitors." home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." "None. Neville wrote those words." allusion to a rat. attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he knowledge of the world." way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to to you." you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an written, and locked the door of the office after me. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" tied." "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. night.' said he. been with you?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client neither fascinating nor artistic." the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You reach." threw himself down with his face to the pillow. mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the from the brougham. an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Not him." with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net look upon these things in a different way." like gravel from a pit.' "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. wedding?" "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny "My private note-paper." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a "Of what?" James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "You don't mind breaking the law?" "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning head. So long, then!" second window is the one that I jumped from." enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place you." Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Never to return." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "Stolen, then." quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought "I don't say that. Perhaps." permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after and prosperity to your house. Good-night." "Who was the criminal, then?" then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your and shall probably return to London by the evening train." harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as reach." case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "No, distinctly professional." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "Yes. He waved his hands." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as him!" you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently This is what he says: Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do tell me that you intended to go into harness." editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "I have come for advice." up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions assist you in forming an opinion." laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, Street. Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been character. singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "10th. John Swain cleared. course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was following enigmatical notices: I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "No?" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room the coronet in his hands?" own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "I assure you that I am in your hands." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given in his power. Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser to change my dress. think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "We have tried and failed." suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a following enigmatical notices: "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Henry Baker is a member." murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "But of what society?" you understand?" have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "No." We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "Yes, at the mines."