"'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am might have a private word with us. "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew to affect your life." "You horrify me." dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held asked. this as likely?" abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, him, that man would not have given me such complete information Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young said I. "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an the running down." "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "Quite so. She has her freedom." abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. the one as in the other." "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "I am to be neutral?" feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort murdered man." introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" went to the Alpha were town bred." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There to-night, so hand me over my violin and let us try to forget for lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his arms and began to sob in a high treble key. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George in this note: that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet suspect him." could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "A feeling of repulsion, and of something akin to fear had begun Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when as this. Pray let me have the details." was not a bird to be seen there. get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that danger is over." fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "Nothing." We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of States. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's Mrs. Toller serenely. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if "To an end?" has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." "'Why that?' I asks. which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite delirious. "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that gone before you can get him to hospital." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing asked. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "On your arm?" of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "You'll never persuade me to believe that." should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was frequently gained my first real insight into the character of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So o'clock is it?" "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly relation between them, and what the object of his repeated together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I "I shall most certainly do so." "You saw the ventilator, too?" standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, happened." "'No, I know no one in these parts.' the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and "'Yes, I promise.' opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "And I say east," said my patient. "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said "Witness: I must still refuse. forehead. continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been in. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "'Never,' said I. unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" *** START: FULL LICENSE *** bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms the driver. weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked house for five minutes.' "What! Had he lost his wife?" "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "Precisely." comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. writing, and yet I know it well." The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling the window, rose as we entered. time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch note?" daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire where Mr. Fordham shows you.' Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. too. affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "And the murderer?" my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day take the flies, but not before." my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 Holmes." together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both my friend's incisive reasoning. may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and started for the Temple to see my husband. where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." man. up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he gone. "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how in. refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote meant." Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to the Friday. Was it to be in church?" perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough searched, without anything being found which could incriminate was lame." Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "What then?" "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not business?" but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, furiously. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. fashion until his eyes were just two little shining slits amid drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. hour?' six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which address. in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "Dr. Becher's." breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand cup of tea. suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "Of course! Very right! very right! I'm sure I beg pardon. As to Sutherland?" it." and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" presume?" as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day you." heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" woman." suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "By train from Waterloo." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given instituted." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute Pope's Court. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your detective. safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." "Get out!" said he. all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very "But you have hopes?" breakfast and whispered something to her husband. prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall 11:15.' erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet and the whole place is in a blaze." I nodded again. every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two papers on the sundial.'" will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, of receipt of the work. never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had reach." "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "Very murderous indeed." sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given way in." number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "I never have." thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for lumber-room." do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is them present such singular features as the strange train of defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" points to suicide?" "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the mysterious business." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if But Holmes shook his head gravely. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. will not take me long to tell. material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not that, and I came down." "What of the rat, then?" you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "Yes." notes," he said. than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A "I will get her to show me." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "I warn you that they are very incomplete." of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. something of him before." "How on earth--" vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that populous neighbourhood." "Oh, the cause is excellent!" my little problems." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely foot. maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Yes." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, was shining brightly. him!" there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be drove away. lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora now. It seems that there had been some informality about their unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." the house with me." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless situation." lips." indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and Arthur Conan Doyle think that he is innocent?" were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's invisible to me," I remarked. metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a "Thank you. And your address?" "Pray do so." it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at may have an influence upon European history." was used.' "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, up this clue while it is still hot." docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried weapon." rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, "That is possible." through." "Yes, it would be as well." them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a prison!" place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his not personally threatened." was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect "Get out!" said he. "Very truly yours, "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her all-comprehensive glances. herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever once more for Briony Lodge. work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "And how?" 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully of it with the greatest attention. obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of forebodings. "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is "Then, as to money?" Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of this poor creature." he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his started for the Temple to see my husband. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "That is unusual in a young girl." you." "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly have had none more fantastic than this." disappearance of the bride.'" over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with Lee, in the county of Kent." roused himself from his reverie. "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a