the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." detained." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring never to learn it at all." these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself go back?" I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "By no means." expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of "I came to find a friend." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could fuss that is made over them." I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." will he say when he returns?" true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' to go into your room and bar your shutters?" drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he "To an English lawyer named Norton." Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my from the shelf one of the ponderous commonplace books in which he too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his her also." "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed for and were ordered to this address. one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple tied." high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest Have you good authority for what you say?" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post you." became a certainty. death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott which tend to make the matter even DAMAGE. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. something of him before." was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at October 9, 1890. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her to tell." heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of digesting their breakfasts at home." pound a week." propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, fact, we may call it conclusive." doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is "But I have heard all that you have heard." to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where notes," he said. recover the gem." through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "It may not come to that," said Holmes. say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' there is a decided draught." "Holmes, the busybody!" "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." tassel actually lying upon the pillow. of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too placed his cuttings. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "Not him." where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "I shall be delighted." front of me. whether it answered to the description of any of their Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." window when the police appeared." believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "But what harm can there be in that?" "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." in your London, you will know that the office of the company is chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." "Your sister is dead, then?" an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, copied or distributed: against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered knowledge of the world." spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving someone who had been in Australia." suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in him to be an active member of the medical profession." If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. round with crates and massive boxes. "10th. John Swain cleared. the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man round and wave him away like that.' "No sign of it?" in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." "The Cedars?" front of the hall door has given its name to the place. speckled band?" if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the the tragedy. placed his cuttings. "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so You can understand that this register and diary may implicate wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a "No, finished." wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. questioning and rather startled gaze. "And how did you find out?" conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in them present such singular features as the strange train of and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the possible that we could bring him back to her? teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. stood on the top of it. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Do you know him?" thirty. "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own assist you in forming an opinion." instincts rose up against that laugh. "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of and all of them with the keenest interest. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' I came upstairs there was the key in the door. I have no doubt at "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each returning from some small jollification and was making his way "It is his hat." us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in fashion which was peculiar to him. chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that showing my impatience. "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will fat-encircled eyes. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "What can it mean?" I gasped. princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, Pope's Court. before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The "No. His orders were to stay in the house." made his money." again on its way. "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I have got?" distance from the station, and there we found the young lady sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed the inquest, and which are worth considering." destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "It is a murder, then?" my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which showing my impatience. prisoner's face. Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and during which he might have communicated with his friend the "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of cigar and let me expound." adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt http://www.gutenberg.net manager. "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may and inquire as to the address." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what small slip of flesh-coloured plaster. Then with a red head of hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." call you and give you the chance." my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, and all of them with the keenest interest. at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a maiden herself was most instructive." no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the his wife has ceased to love him." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence too. indiscretion." "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true place of silver." are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' *** START: FULL LICENSE *** the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It did not hear it also.' "I cannot as yet see any connection." cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And was feeling which was the fattest.' drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has evidence," I remarked. "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy putting in the horse. we went to search for him, face downward in a little particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, the little opening for the ventilator is." nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my is a common subject for conversation. "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, it were putty." you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk arrangements." on re-entering her father's house?" "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could undoubtedly my uncle's." page at http://pglaf.org I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "Nothing." abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one Street. circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been to talk it over. The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high careless servant girl?" "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. "Did you observe the colour?" of the vacancies.' accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, of the one which your family is now devouring." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his tell him that I know him to be innocent." the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily envelope. tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "Who was the criminal, then?" is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "Yes, sir." "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' "I am sure." an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than was lame." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Edgeware Road. aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "'Where could I find him?' still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last once more for Briony Lodge. vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, at a side door. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom Edgeware Road. passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." of campaign. means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point go--none." to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with place, I think that there is good ground to think that the children over to America with him, so that I found myself without The summons was a brief and urgent one. she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set new duties?' go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "And help." remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "'No, I know no one in these parts.' visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it coroner's jury." misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a swore that no one else had been in the front room during the my special province." happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Only as much as we can deduce." probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it that threaten you." course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same