a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick as yours." shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "But we can't all be." companion imperturbably. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a But Holmes shook his head gravely. for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the morning." back to my heart. There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" go--none." all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, to a more successful conclusion." "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "You have a clue?" license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them the one as in the other." spark where all is dark to me." business in the City. She little knew what. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "You have but to name it." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "I see no marks." once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they you found me to-night--and running through the front room she stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, fashion which was peculiar to him. to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father "One of his hands." upon the white wrist. an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching a little more before I quite committed myself. "How are you getting on?" "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There "I say it is." "My own seal." Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said I leave." "Entirely." 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back good for you to do.' say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day a suggestive one." elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would wanted for ourselves." your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and less than 26s. 4d. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons little adventures." few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no it were putty." stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "And I to find an enemy." that there was nothing in it, after all." indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I of the way of danger. are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be you came in." explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of shoulder; "he's all right." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round your own bird, so if you wish--" go from here to the Strand." admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running all-comprehensive glances. the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the it? Did I buy the geese off you?" that you saw all that I did." With a grave face he lit the lamp and led the way down the glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of the inner apartment." "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" answer." our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that "Ha! you find it so?" glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "Where did he live, then?" it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by which was all perfectly true. drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." distinguish the words: late." had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "Perfectly so." wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were Lee, in the county of Kent." here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "What have you to say now?" any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, have accepted such a situation. "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a to-morrow." "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the out." difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very to affect your life." and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable criminal. We have already had experience of such." trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will "It is possible." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge to change my dress. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if "That was it, sir." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just should be so warm over such a trifle." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in "Yes, from Horsham." good-night and bustled off upon her way. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of "May I see it?" giving me time to thank him. nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." you." previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." "It missed him, then?" facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the direction." Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "Precisely." or in danger--" "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring begin with, and I had not got mine yet." every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Deserted you?" say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal You want to know what became of those geese?" passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull sit on the left-hand side of the driver." from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but there!' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little your own bird, so if you wish--" He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands to some other building. impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way yet." what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to some mystery and the punishment of some crime." and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "No, but the enclosure is." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be it right.' you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging strange features which were associated with the two crimes which days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a It may be so in this case, also." gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "I am in hopes that she does." "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried in the hope of finding them." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be companion. hurried away. up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he speckled band?" You can understand that this register and diary may implicate you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, burst into a hearty fit of laughter. Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of plantation.' state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "Yes, sir." understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the Holmes' room. "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" in his power. "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" had formerly been in part my own. "What is it?" "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the he. have I gained?" TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that to affect your life." states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had "I cannot say that I have." understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to Foundation the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord me." companion quietly. strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the papers diligently of late, have you not?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" and capable of preserving a secret.' sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable it with his own hands." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to http://www.gutenberg.net "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an congratulate you again." "Very murderous indeed." door?" effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! salesman. That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," salesman. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of vague figure huddled up in the darkness. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings the very letters. But what is this written above them?' consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped skylight. jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with Holmes." going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that arms and began to sob in a high treble key. He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his the very letters. But what is this written above them?' harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her But Holmes shook his head gravely. the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, "Entirely." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a back to my heart. present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "Yes." opportunities to fix the problem. "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not business?" 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the developed." "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can "Married! When?" "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum the devil!" low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "Do you go out much in society?" brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity But Holmes shook his head gravely. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "None." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this my room." which it had come upon my father." wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all the Friday. Was it to be in church?" My friend smiled. afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. wedding?" rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was to-night's adventure." During two years I have had three consultations and one small horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce it." The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make Edgeware Road. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had I have it here in my museum." "I have come for advice." wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a were wasted." box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." "I cannot tell." London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this this poor creature." child?' "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from where Mr. Fordham shows you.' "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "And now?" He raised his hand. see a sister of mine apply for." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which useful material for showing traces. The double line a little them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so other means.' "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "But not more so than I to find you." unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy door?" is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander