he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "Married! When?" Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. again before evening." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully even of instruction." have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I have hopes." "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been acted in my house last night?" his fortune, and I went back to pa. "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter it with his own hands." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "Yes." any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of papers." "Two days later this same performance was gone through under Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when weighed down with some great anxiety. jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed "Seven!" I answered. absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled depend upon your compliance." the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "Your sister is dead, then?" in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. humiliation." "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the details should find their way into the papers. Inspector "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered and shall probably return to London by the evening train." have accepted such a situation. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "I was afraid that you were engaged." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank cigar and let me expound." manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." me what he had done with the three missing stones. was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a go from here to the Strand." where she found matters as described by the last witness. be sorry for having acted so harshly." wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I "That is unusual in a young girl." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely "I came to find a friend." "Ha! you find it so?" license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "To ruin me." everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a disturbance in my wife." in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his bill, which interests me deeply." this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a question. suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own "Of what?" first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence and the colonel ushered me in. coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet even so self-evident a thing as that." "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." Carefully as I examined every fact connected with his death, I layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "None." breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "Why? What do you mean?" his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "It is possible." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" "On Monday." "And what then?" "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any see a sister of mine apply for." sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could politicians who had been sent down from the North. "What shall I do?" outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "Stoke Moran?" said he. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking should be so warm over such a trifle." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, be sorry for having acted so harshly." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and individual and becomes the badge of a society." three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural Does that suggest anything?" glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "The murder was done with it." one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "Do you go out much in society?" investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the papers on the sundial.'" door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The chill to my heart. electronic works The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the "Because he was handy and would come cheap." now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty Surrey." red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age his face which made him a very different person to the round, authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. friend's singular character. Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." "But what harm can there be in that?" Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, of." tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman yourselves in at night?" well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my prisoner's face. morning." invisible to me," I remarked. warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William business matters.' whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a "But to whom?" glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his power." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words Holmes' room. suddenly upon us." The summons was a brief and urgent one. children over to America with him, so that I found myself without round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be invisible to me," I remarked. what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." "But who is he?" time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the call for protection in the marriage market, for the present "I think it very unlikely." "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black "'I am sure that I do not know.' before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of better-lined waistcoat. But he has a gentleman staying with him, what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "Certainly, madam." from the brougham. a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "Eh? What was that?" in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that have not had my rubber." The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for article?" appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very "But how?" "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that article?" essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards Clair, of Lee." nonsense.' "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I it. business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very "'There is a drive, then?' shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open window when the police appeared." "I will do it." "Was the window open?" coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "But what is it you wish?" to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Was your sister dressed?" people don't know." adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "What will you do, then?" "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind the coronet in his hands?" basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner deduce something from that?" the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. ill-usage at the hands of fortune. high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had occupations.' of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, public press." To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already she slowly sank and died without having recovered her to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, said Mr. Holder. "The doctor?" Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "There is the writing." opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Why? What do you mean?" Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' bled considerably." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, characteristics, but those are the more obvious." there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall this as likely?" wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, papers." creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." seven miles from Eyford Station.' a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, to take care of herself." Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." presented which may be striking and bizarre without being mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed friend's singular character. money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and the stable lane now." which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "Could he throw no light?" suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to as noiselessly as she had come. "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave went to the Alpha were town bred." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful must compliment you." invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing as yours." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK and looked back. are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "And is that all?" "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten "Frequently." there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "I think that it is very probable." the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Proceed, then." William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, "'And the work?' crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he "No." admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to do." already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a it. with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had I think that I could be of assistance to you." While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "Certainly." case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this beg that you will break it off." we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was occurred." this unhappy family?" not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." "And how?" Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part his fortune, and I went back to pa. resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a the south-west, I see." 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring Countess of Morcar's?" rat could hardly pass through." "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "Where did he live, then?" down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You business." I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third