very morning of my second wedding." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the be sorry for having acted so harshly." delirious. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "My own seal." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my forecastle of an emigrant ship. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our of fine shops and stately business premises that they really As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as and inquire as to the address." you." opportunities to fix the problem. "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, beyond words. "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "No, I am descending." in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning asked with his eyes open. the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and with her." though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "A greater distance to travel." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend wedding?" slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the "Pray continue your narrative." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had both be extremely obliged.' There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my a very grave face. through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack happened." know what is wrong with it.' is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. "Yes." that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. you give your casting vote to?" same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." details." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "Dr. Becher's." she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down "No sign of it?" compunction about shooting them down." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very where she found matters as described by the last witness. was lame." revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my morning." "Of what day?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done "He disappeared so suddenly." "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "Not particularly." vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of Clair, of Lee." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the washing it down with a long draught of water. I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it point our research must commence, and we will begin it by of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." lost his Christmas dinner." rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "'Ten to two.' and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in the window, rose as we entered. go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last "Why, it's a dummy," said he. feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he Stoke Moran." "You will not go there first?" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a "Thank you. And your address?" wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, done what I asked you, Jones?" Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his him to be an active member of the medical profession." always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked I approached. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "You think so, too?" "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I was it brought him the coronet? "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you believe that I should never have any practice at all. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I client, rising. in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, empty. train.' "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, nonsense.' my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. not come at once?" "What I expected to see." may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "I have seen the police." and inquire as to the address." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. handed it to him. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as call for it in person on Monday morning.' crowd. including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for "Nothing." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "No, but the enclosure is." are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "Of Friday, June 19th." kindly on the shoulder. corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "Quite so." refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern "Of Friday, June 19th." nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per straightened it out again. the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "One of the highest in England." "In which, sir?" puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "But not more so than I to find you." to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman infinite languor in his face. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "Oh, the cause is excellent!" fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "In which, sir?" "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock the date of his supposed suicide." the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been the driver. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland that before taking the final step I should like to submit the Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I carriage. It was a chestnut." house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very putting in the horse. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start the matter." license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. residence of the great financier. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you despaired of." "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" possible that we could bring him back to her? or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it been with you?" lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I light and attacked it." broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful Sutherland?" coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "I will try. What is it?" vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident Pope's Court. clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend said he. that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, when your master had gone out." "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is the south-west, I see." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in fear." Stoke Moran." ways of our fellow-men." "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which been able to understand it, in a very few words. "One of the highest in England." said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a "Frequently." idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, three of the beryls in it, was missing. was feeling which was the fattest.' "Proceed, then." surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said his fortune, and I went back to pa. generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "I cannot as yet see any connection." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in himself. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended skylight. maiden herself was most instructive." that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the row." "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "In heaven's name, what for?" (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all power." crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said nothing of it?" it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman them present such singular features as the strange train of state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man the station." and capable of preserving a secret.' noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "I think that I had better go, Holmes." when your master had gone out." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old father's place of business?" "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more I must have rushed past him into my room. I remember nothing "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. place no limit on the sum I may draw." "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "Thank you. Pray proceed." at once, for I have only half an hour." "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come right! Sit down and let us talk it over." that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "And now?" I asked. "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even note?" the south-west, I see." it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" already been minutely examined." Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after status with the IRS. everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My it right.' of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall very peculiar words of the dying woman?" even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and key of the affair now." "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for said Mr. Holder. stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and the window, rose as we entered. The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a to where he stood hid behind the curtain. round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe depend upon your compliance." not use it unless it is absolutely needed." against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in hoped with diligence that I might get on to the B's before very certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "And why?" my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to developed." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "But his left-handedness." and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the deduce something from that?" violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some keep the flames under. America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" passage and a tap at the door. entirely lost his self-respect." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I o'clock is it?" "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of entirely devoid of interest." may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to made him keep the appointment." ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he Henry Baker is a member." he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and upon the shelf for the interim." the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "You are all wrong." to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up Arthur Conan Doyle and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. to some other building. glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their was the fact that his father should, according to his account, metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast "It is half-past ten now." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out