done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. you found me to-night--and running through the front room she any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do characteristics, but those are the more obvious." may never be exposed to such a temptation." "How did you deduce the select?" stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, himself in a perplexing position. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "It is to him that this trophy belongs." wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two quickly through a disagreeable task. redistribution. throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. of his shoulders. key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The "No, I had a dozen." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to "I have come for advice." Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "The murder was done with it." The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that singular points about the case. What did the police think of the "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H roused himself from his reverie. beyond words. several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came "What!" he roared. more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong open." Munro.' brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow affair. whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a opened the door, and slipped through. clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "'What are you doing there?' he asked. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to washing it down with a long draught of water. away to you." daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his made his money." tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is that you saw all that I did." in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such conclusions. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must upon the shelf for the interim." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without occurred." scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "And now?" He raised his hand. as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could beg that you will break it off." "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "I assure you that I am in your hands." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal "Yes, he did." "There is the writing." something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. But Holmes shook his head gravely. "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the me have 200 pounds?' "It surprised me." Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "He is dead," cried several voices. It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left It was close upon four before the door opened, and a dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. matter." d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential he died? left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are the ceiling. nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Then you may be so with me." was a lad." was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I giving me time to thank him. a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle "Bought." slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and if I call to-morrow?" name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were gone before you can get him to hospital." the nursery. than to us. ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "10th. John Swain cleared. into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "'Certainly not.' own family. lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need hopeless attempt at recovering them." for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. definite end. Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men "Frequently." works. See paragraph 1.E below. but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "I cannot as yet see any connection." pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line Edgeware Road. here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure is," said he presently: Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "What!" he roared. week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "Certainly, madam." "But his left-handedness." fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really if I call to-morrow?" sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "Then you may entirely rely on me." "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the matter over." copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand "What, then?" "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. conceal it?" but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your "The doctor?" Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "My opinion is in no way altered." "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has over with notes and figures. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us said he, "my real name is James Ryder." With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes galvanised. sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the to Leatherhead. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and to surprise her." "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would bachelor.' manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I returning from some small jollification and was making his way points to suicide?" would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but "How did you trace it, then?" "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. "It was an hour's good drive." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then to Leatherhead. his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most simple cases which are so extremely difficult." the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to "To an English lawyer named Norton." delirious. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." "She will not sell." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the of the way of danger. still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining a suggestive one." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "And now?" He raised his hand. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "'I have already given you my word.' "A confidential servant?" brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really of the efforts of the United States government and of the better sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never would then never go into court at all." extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you second." to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day seem to you to be relevant or not." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very maid will bring up your coffee." "Very. But will he see it?" "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "But your client--" can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a Holmes' room. knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am your most interesting statement." Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the of campaign. three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." as noiselessly as she had come. handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "It looks newer than the other things?" remarked. steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which "Not I." "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." maid will bring up your coffee." "No, but the enclosure is." showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little became a certainty. the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an exactly what you advise." rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she returning from some small jollification and was making his way a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "I am armed." hard-headed British jury." "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some kindly on the shoulder. he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined populous neighbourhood." among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is and the church but not where the lady lived." "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "Yes, certainly." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with chemical work which was so dear to him. wall." a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary means taking possession of that which another person has a prior what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to new duties?' telegram would bring me down to your help." you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a I. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at "My dear Holmes!" affair. see me here to avoid scandal." One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "It is very kind of you." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." away in different directions, and I went off to make my own didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that wedding?" "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the "I will not look." having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked "Then what has happened to him?" He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen troubles have been weighing upon his mind. Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing face and glided from the room. remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "Nothing?" through." controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to beg that you will break it off." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We girl said." feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the your Highness to the police-station?" "I answered that I had not. struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature "It goes to the housekeeper's room." greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was "Certainly." "Won't it ring?" Sutherland?" Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "No bad?" the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the "You have the photograph?" Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his cup of tea. colour had been driven from his face. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we emerged. high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "What, then, did Peterson do?" father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of writing, and yet I know it well." quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his asked. finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several go from here to the Strand." "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and James Windibank. Voilà tout!" greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the not fit the lock." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in salesman. one which it was hard to resist. "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited