skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "By no means." "Yes." some city in a dream. "We must have a cab." came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a only touch the interest." and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, second window is the one that I jumped from." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it way in everything. "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, the tragedy. delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become be.' He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' all?" "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, fear." "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and colour had been driven from his face. into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for train.' They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of himself to hunt down. the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if what is your own theory as to what took place?" vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before "One horse?" interjected Holmes. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some here and I will read it to you: brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist had picked up in the wood. delighted to hear it," he said. Munro.' Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who "I cannot tell." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. be.' "That is not always so easy." was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB over here." "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what nonsense.' the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should if only as a check to my own memory." "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a never to learn it at all." papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "Won't it ring?" weary and pale-looking. "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came that I can to serve you." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has that I may have something better before very many minutes are in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which to tell." Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he said he at last. "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my see a sister of mine apply for." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that "Won't it ring?" which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, that I may have something better before very many minutes are possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after The summons was a brief and urgent one. The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in Clair, of Lee." My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. my little problems." "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something any." "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he instituted." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the jewels which you have stolen?' unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way tear off another piece?' Heh?' which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs as noiselessly as she had come. fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; get her out of the way." asked with his eyes open. "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and key turn in the lock." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his leaning back in his chair. circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a not come at once?" many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that tied." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Yes, sir." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of "To an end?" in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions and shall probably return to London by the evening train." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched "None." said he at last. purpose equally well?" Countess of Morcar's?" upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of Foundation screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my notes," he said. again before evening." annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a in one or two places in England?' conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and good for you to do.' the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; hurried by. dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among good-night and bustled off upon her way. "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their "No, but the enclosure is." evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a which are rolled in Rotterdam." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "What office?" with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see where she found matters as described by the last witness. "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' least a fellow-countryman. "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen test if we have an answer to our advertisement." revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my Chief Executive and Director sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "No, finished." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is dwell. You have degraded what should have been a course of "Well." of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, ways including including checks, online payments and credit card number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how upon the shelf for the interim." Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "How did you trace it, then?" manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my brandy and water within his reach. "But it has twice been burgled." to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these cigars in their mouths. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is hurried by. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Proceed, then." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that as this. Pray let me have the details." stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "That is not always so easy." "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "'What do you call purely nominal?' course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between directors, with the result that you have seen." we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in Street. facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend closing the door. dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. your bag." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove your co-operation." point in the dark hollow of his hand. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may where Mr. Fordham shows you.' in him." was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience a few minutes he said that it would be all right. constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining province." good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at later, upon the night of May 2nd." and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "I answered that I had not. lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled to talk it over. an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "My private note-paper." "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "That sounds a little paradoxical." even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name sit on the left-hand side of the driver." lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I interested in these little problems, and since you are good former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "How long did she speak to this Alice?" "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had "You have it, sir, just as it happened." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off "What! Had he lost his wife?" banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with be best to do. "Only as much as we can deduce." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "Yes." gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who bearing upon the case." exactly what you advise." quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, so far?" he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "What?" helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had several quiet little villages up there." have an American origin." their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "I do." her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and held up the lantern and gazed about him. question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the "Then I shall certainly come." correct than the official force." of his shoulders. "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the miles off. Pool. pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and Hopkins, who was very peculiar in his ways. He was himself dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel ready to-morrow?' wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a His name is Francis Prosper." Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out of note-paper. It read in this fashion: he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. other lovers by making love himself." man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work as the one I chose?' "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Yes." impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to 1.F. Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. purpose of examination. "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. use an arc-and-compass breastpin." But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had "An enemy?" however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. meanly of me." it." of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "Seven!" I answered. "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a 1.E.9. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "I would pay ten." purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather "And your mother is alive?" "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was families. Now for the facts. some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "Breckinridge is his name." "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "It's nothing of the kind." magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or served to weaken the effect. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured upon an income of about 60 pounds." marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." them?" Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others kindly on the shoulder. who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his hair?' alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Not in the least." what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and followed. something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If me, and I could not think that his explanation of the squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "Yes." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed if I call to-morrow?" "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." affection." "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the is," said he presently: Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a