stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the in my life." people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and that, and I came down." the address that was given us in the advertisement. stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the Where does the thing come from?' Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "No, I had a dozen." called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." "You were travelling in the States?" "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of "It must be recovered." "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "And sit in the dark?" however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Who by?" belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" had formerly been in part my own. the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, approach us with offers to donate. "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself as yours." hurried away. "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something Arthur Conan Doyle can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, use an arc-and-compass breastpin." to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the indiscretion." and my father Joseph. My father had a small factory at Coventry, "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the events, Mr. Windibank!" something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "The Coroner: What do you mean? he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit some water from a caraffe. dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked papers on the sundial.'" is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, at once, for I have only half an hour." of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three to-night?' to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you McCarthy's innocence. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I views." editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been conceal it?" see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" hopeless attempt at recovering them." "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "In heaven's name, what for?" years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at skylight. for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "About a month then." providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a "He disappeared so suddenly." the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and relation between them, and what the object of his repeated "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while answer." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to hereditary King of Bohemia." "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the "My last client of the sort was a king." five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get than was visible to me." we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have "No. His orders were to stay in the house." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone head. So long, then!" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "The Cedars?" 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to answer." "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, the nursery. pound a week." to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that and no precautions can guard against." "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "Yes." was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished Surrey." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very several quiet little villages up there." walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated fire. You quite follow me?" "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "I have come for advice." think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." to talk it over. to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for yards of it?' "That is not always so easy." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? you." astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the to his chemical studies. taking in every detail of the apartment. "The vanishing of the lady." "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun tightly behind him. "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that she to prove their authenticity?" if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had place no limit on the sum I may draw." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone "And you don't know his address?" Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "But the mystery?" you came in." Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be be there in time for your coming." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "I say that I have solved it." "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance best detective that ever lived. his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to "He said too much." without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "No bad?" usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a compunction about shooting them down." distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man standing smiling on the door-step. It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. "What do you make of that, Watson?" St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where was a loud and authoritative tap. "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "Breckinridge is his name." "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw Sutherland. and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four skylight. few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall bedroom door." "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and His smile broadened. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to and the whole place is in a blaze." in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there ashen face. kindly on the shoulder. "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed strength." of receipt of the work. "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle Surrey." "'Where could I find him?' building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "And what did you learn from him?" "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, down in his armchair and closing his eyes. lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a your sleep?' had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been said he. his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no stood on the top of it. building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear I held the little printed slip to the light. the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "I am following you closely," I answered. "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "What! a murderous attack?" Edgeware Road. morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret crackling voice. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue could go. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be front of the hall door has given its name to the place. "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the shall not find me ungrateful." was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really Pool. home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle gigantic client. habit of advancing money.' down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this writing, and yet I know it well." trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair happened." papers must be those that are destroyed.' annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a "Just look it up, then." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "What have you to say now?" little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." be. these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man several quiet little villages up there." surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, window when the police appeared." answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "What of the rat, then?" round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to "A client, then?" the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the License. You must require such a user to return or "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I hopeless attempt at recovering them." she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and whatever might befall. very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Upon what point?" "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our speckled band?" The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a who was a member of your goose club." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to "Yes." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the fat-encircled eyes. keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square threw himself down with his face to the pillow. morning." to arrive at through this?" are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps "No." consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. cigar and let me expound." "Then the page we have seen--" to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I giving me time to thank him. of receipt of the work. accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and the general public were present, then?" back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did way in." the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, round and wave him away like that.' intrusion of other matters." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the roots. standing smiling on the door-step. then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "Who by?" She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce "But you can know nothing of this?" as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible him." while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "'Certainly not.' "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of for and were ordered to this address. "No, I am descending." it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no