the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. highroad, where all traces were lost. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. not, dad?" she asked. tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "Seven!" I answered. Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in humiliation." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass easy-going way." grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "Yes, I have one waiting." ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "None." if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. "No." array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of you." been lifted and conveyed somewhere." mysterious business." everything which you would wish to know." "'I am sure if I had known--' the child." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders me upon any point which I do not make clear." more solid." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." tightly behind him. repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "No." suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go Young McCarthy must be got off, however." old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "And help." I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. relief. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, less than 26s. 4d. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a Edgeware Road. immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "One of his hands." three of the beryls in it, was missing. would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, character. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! might help us?" "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "Pray let us have it, for all that." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "And for present expenses?" been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." indiscretion." disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a the Red-headed League." had died away into the silence from which it rose. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of troubles have been weighing upon his mind. the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "Was she in good spirits?" Street. "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "Not in the least." and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would unkempt, staring out at me. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think "Thank you. And your address?" "No good news?" truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "Well, some hundreds of times." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote one of the states of the Union." other lovers by making love himself." years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you that he will be back before evening." set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "Then how many are there?" description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two the house with me." was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San look dissatisfied." consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you The King stared at him in amazement. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in to-morrow." "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "About a month then." questionable one." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, long narrative. The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge to tackle the facts." "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "She showed me, as I told you she would." "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "And that is--" Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been of campaign. massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is "Really! You surprise me." "I will try. What is it?" apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two not interfere, come what may. You understand?" slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." morning." gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." at my remark. "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable business matters.' "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while McCarthy." wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I "And it is--" purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it "It surprised me." you?" LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely "Witness: It was. act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been matters immensely." theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. said he, "my real name is James Ryder." chill to my heart. been." "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect introspective fashion. the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by train from Paddington which would bring you there at about is a common subject for conversation. ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the I held the little printed slip to the light. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! to you." clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he meant." the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With him. glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to strength." man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your to surprise her." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you hereditary King of Bohemia." went to the Alpha were town bred." complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "Frequently." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, American. Then who could this American be, and why should he the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "'And what are they worth?' I asked. at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not head. So long, then!" "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That "Yes, they were peculiar boots." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Never." in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "But she will refuse." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." "But she could not love him." "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "Awake, Watson?" he asked. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "I fear not." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "I don't say that. Perhaps." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." I nodded again. "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "It looks newer than the other things?" received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his "I will try. What is it?" was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in from the brougham. sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I present." having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "They are typewritten," I remarked. "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into formed some opinion?" free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, the iron safe, which he closed upon it. used to be." course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the like gravel from a pit.' cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the The King stared at him in amazement. never came back." have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. again, where I was soon asleep. to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon this remarkable episode. to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the voice, changing her seat as requested. the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can particular state visit http://pglaf.org before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "Have you her photograph?" myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There vanished into the darkness. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "And who is her maid?" "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), new acquaintance to Baker Street. The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he are, I think, all that we need." business came to an end." "Did you observe the colour?" wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "And how in the world did you find them?" whatever might befall. difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your promised to bring home. the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the you give your casting vote to?" "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my the roots. sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs would apply.' I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" into her hand at the door and which lured her within their great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced "I will get her to show me." he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "I was mad--insane." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "None." for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "Your presence might be invaluable." roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "Two days later this same performance was gone through under business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" you give your casting vote to?" his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your where she found matters as described by the last witness. admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a little adventures." gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is skylight. entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon other lovers by making love himself." a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the weapon." "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower said he. I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the Dr. Gregory B. Newby idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "'Where to?' "What, then?" "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is "What will you say?" produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "It looks newer than the other things?" "Then I shall certainly come." "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to green of the new foliage. noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' to a light-house. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small whereabouts. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America