Edgeware Road. thin legs towards the fire. any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." envelope. "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal crowd. instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "Dirty?" subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Yes." in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "It is possible." endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not it." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this on re-entering her father's house?" "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of "And how have you succeeded?" charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "I say that I have solved it." and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save The note was undated, and without either signature or address. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "To ruin me." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove "It goes to the housekeeper's room." singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that entirely devoid of interest." "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. straighten it?" misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, made his money." really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and room?" As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my in his hands." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the are, and they are waiting for us." reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small business in the City. She little knew what. "No good news?" way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice article?" that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that III. the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That quickly through a disagreeable task. a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the shag which I had seen upon the previous night. passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would "Oh, fresh and glossy." go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards individual and becomes the badge of a society." him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered highly," said Holmes. copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the questioning and rather startled gaze. chambers. constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "'Where could I find him?' "'Stolen!' he cried. bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the politicians who had been sent down from the North. "Yes. He waved his hands." waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred stalked out of the room. "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon in a friendly supper." "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual use an arc-and-compass breastpin." have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "But not more so than I to find you." inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from retorted upon me, and I on you." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my purpose of examination. flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "Never." "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up gbnewby@pglaf.org "But how?" grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of I approached. "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms never to learn it at all." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly it were putty." "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done directly by questioning you." "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in said he at last. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was a suggestive one." some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, photograph?" to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point begun to whiten, even as mine has." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to redistribution. and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you eavesdroppers?' it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with Serpentine Avenue. attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "Is he quiet?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry outsides of the windows. us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was chamber." coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived troubles have been weighing upon his mind. no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might "'Never.' "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried a suggestive one." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is this truth that in these little records of our cases which you Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and some mystery and the punishment of some crime." doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to security.' his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little man. labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham "I was sure that I might rely on you." "You horrify me!" horse could go." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not interests were the same as his." "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his be sorry for having acted so harshly." envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "The gentleman I describe." maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own with some details as to your case." trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "You will not go there first?" street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler against a man in the prime of life?" hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend affection." evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you again, where I was soon asleep. this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "And I to find an enemy." you?" of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional late!' way in everything. over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was light and attacked it." prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "What then?" A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "Well?" "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged at a side door. friends, not even his own brother. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her to have been novel and of interest." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing ill-usage at the hands of fortune. fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. crime." considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing The police have openly confessed that they can at present make We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to "Where did you address your letters, then?" "'And the work?' you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still status with the IRS. country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary sake, don't!" "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "No, but the enclosure is." "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "I was afraid that you were engaged." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the and capable of preserving a secret.' "Tired-looking or fresh?" "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after murdered man." distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "But his left-handedness." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black kindly on the shoulder. companion quietly. not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote into the room. father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of down in his armchair and closing his eyes. from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was skylight. "The vanishing of the lady." ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who carriage. It was a chestnut." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in certainly not very gracious." Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he had "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt might help us?" "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" in the dead of the night?' "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. were new raised from a basin. there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all "Then he might have called to you?" "How did you trace it, then?" Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door "What can it mean?" I gasped. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was other means.' "Could he throw no light?" him, that man would not have given me such complete information "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this "And how did he make his money?" really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "But she could not love him." like gravel from a pit.' recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I