always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton more terrible than the truth. still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and details should find their way into the papers. Inspector residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. arrested. You then--" be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "To the police?" than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between had this final quarrel? to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "And why?" brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, pound a week." some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ "There is the writing." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his approach us with offers to donate. "A confidential servant?" "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "Proceed, then." "Won't it ring?" mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more could go. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet in a very precise fashion." scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the the driver. "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, may never be exposed to such a temptation." presume?" "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for I held the little printed slip to the light. "But the mystery?" round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do mysterious end." delirious. shall not find me ungrateful." feeling, no doubt, but it hurts my pride. It becomes a personal me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend you found me to-night--and running through the front room she her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was begun to whiten, even as mine has." and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with depend upon your compliance." thin legs towards the fire. You want to know what became of those geese?" Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "What have you to say now?" postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was careless servant girl?" to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do golden eyeglasses. ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "Stolen, then." building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question Stoke Moran." while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four The telegram which we eventually received came late one night were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what appointment with me for six o'clock?" "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" chamber." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet "Pray tell us what has happened to you." called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her "But of what society?" hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Where did you address your letters, then?" "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. over with notes and figures. the very morning of the wedding." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To possible that we could bring him back to her? "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the least a most suspicious remark." morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every there were one or two details which were new to me. But the your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "This photograph!" have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the details should find their way into the papers. Inspector Holmes. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be highroad, where all traces were lost. "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and locked. "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." once more to my work. out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary have I gained?" trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety cigar and let me expound." will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was little adventures." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. straighten it?" existence." been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to long narrative. you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "At what time?" Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "'Yes, I promise.' time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen know all about it," he snarled. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The your most interesting statement." flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On later, upon the night of May 2nd." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and infinite languor in his face. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is own family. foresight and the moral retrogression?" reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the relation between them, and what the object of his repeated better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he said I. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my me." with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the business." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some Countess of Morcar's?" week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at here." as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you "I guessed as much." crime." will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do hand, madam?" greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out breakfast?" the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." writing, and yet I know it well." "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was lost his Christmas dinner." "Yes." "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of so strange in its inception and so dramatic in its details that waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this up this clue while it is still hot." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for letters?" "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what remarked. calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, chance." We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "Ten will be early enough." as yours." "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so Sholtos." think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at garden below. were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, handed it to him. shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying if only as a check to my own memory." bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "I will get her to show me." to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out I took the paper from him and read as follows: "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "The decline of his fortunes, then?" "'Is 4 pounds a week.' side. trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive four million human beings all jostling each other within the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "And the murderer?" for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain it." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "None." at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "He is still with you, I presume?" weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by appointment with me for six o'clock?" words as will carry conviction with them. Having done this, you you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in way in." that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards fear." manager. chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. footfalls from the street. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the Young McCarthy must be got off, however." younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia bled considerably." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for States. was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to Farm upon the left." few hundred pounds.' "'I shall certainly be there.' could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet ready to-morrow?' "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now your bag." thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest impression behind it as though a window had gently closed concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a was a lad." remarked. "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, mysterious end." window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his "You have a clue?" I approached. "Who was the criminal, then?" yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. one else, I think." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I said I. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my "What, then?" 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. along the entire front of the house, with three long windows as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner to me. quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "Perhaps we may make them less so." "My last client of the sort was a king." "Perhaps we may make them less so." so.' "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to "Very truly yours, some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though rat could hardly pass through." "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "Deserted you?" meant it for the best. come either from the window or the door. My attention was gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." means taking possession of that which another person has a prior his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell returning from some small jollification and was making his way Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he was a lad." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking sofa. This way, please!" accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand himself to hunt down. all-comprehensive glances. floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a Serpentine Avenue. its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "And what did you see?" little trying to do so much typewriting?" know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. carried out of court." nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive that he has suffered." for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. a monotonous occupation." "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove