stood on the top of it. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, forehead. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the weary and pale-looking. "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "Thank you. And your address?" the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly there when the Rucastles went away." "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and and effective." "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless useful material for showing traces. The double line a little instincts rose up against that laugh. about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, "'Certainly not. But why?' together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of more than once to break away from the dangerous company which he firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "But how?" heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, bare slabs of marble. set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to matter over." red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's forehead. impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so conclusions. some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found "Where, then, is my wife?" was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not were new raised from a basin. which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. did not hear it also.' "Proceed, then." "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child "How did you deduce the select?" greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I even so self-evident a thing as that." the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I look dissatisfied." which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs bears upon the case?" room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible like that before?" to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both a good hundred miles off by now." here and I will read it to you: reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we to have that photograph." have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered words came to my lips. week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you for the market.' branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a way: I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have "The Cedars?" "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the have got?" in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Pray do so." "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "At half-wages, in fact." down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter "Mr. John Turner," cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same and looked back. secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very cigars in their mouths. "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, be.' "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "'Where to?' "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' evidence," I remarked. "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. burst into a hearty fit of laughter. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "Yes, sir." Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief trying to your nerves." weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "My stepfather's business papers." "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, families. Now for the facts. Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "Never to return." future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by lids now and glanced across at his visitor. as the one I chose?' but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel enter into my head. of this gang." in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand their singular warning or token before them when starting upon footfalls from the street. with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "I am all attention, madam." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she than was visible to me." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six see a sister of mine apply for." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The one's self under obligations.' London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face room?" States. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of States. photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the "To an English lawyer named Norton." "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, had this final quarrel? "You will tell me if you have any news to-morrow. No doubt you painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter deduce something from that?" "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when it. visitors." dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must you, my dear young lady?' moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes them?" Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "And Irene Adler?" side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and Eyford at 11:15.' "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment once more on the important position which you have been fortunate some terrible trap for her." "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my "Where did you address your letters, then?" Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but green of the new foliage. residence of the great financier. "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the off." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser felt?" have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, bird of prey. "'Certainly not. But why?' through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have to change my dress. nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears foot. "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a of the efforts of the United States government and of the better even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save deduce something from that?" her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never and put his glass in his pocket. Gutenberg-tm License. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these to change my dress. against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "And how?" seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in country, and eventually married, without anyone having a Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their was feeling which was the fattest.' And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom appointment with me for six o'clock?" "'Yes.' in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "Where, then, is my wife?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the pierced for earrings?" "Entirely." "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. the coronet in his hand?" sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the his huge brown hands. overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran done what I asked you, Jones?" and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "Yes, only one." explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative ashen face. unprecedented a position." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "You know me, then?" leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which been shamefully used." however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that formed some opinion?" considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point four million human beings all jostling each other within the papers must be those that are destroyed.' salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All investigation." delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in became a certainty. shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client returning from some small jollification and was making his way this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "Have you her photograph?" mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see in his power. wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society remarked. there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "I do." remarked. she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are stepfather?" Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" mystery may be cleared along those lines." "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned troubles have been weighing upon his mind. great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation down from London to inquire more deeply into it." in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. "He is still with you, I presume?" should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." careless servant girl?" in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "Pray be precise as to details," said he. will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his better in every way that they should make their position a little the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "Where, indeed?" imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not question you as to those details which seem to me to be most to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And the Friday. Was it to be in church?" Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Pope's Court. the matter." I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that eavesdroppers?' over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "Well?" almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking heavy and sharp instrument." had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during there in twenty minutes." contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small