effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" behind me. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our questionable one." IS sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and room had already been engaged for us. hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." was a lad." which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little stepfather?" scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be back into the street. and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." may never be exposed to such a temptation." Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal situation." business." "But we can't all be." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical what is your own theory as to what took place?" cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "That sounds a little paradoxical." river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the straightened it out again. Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." heavy and sharp instrument." at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." Miss Holder?" that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. friend's singular character. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his James Windibank. Voilà tout!" world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any results." see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is "I was sure that I might rely on you." other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being bonnet, and went out." within hail.' the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the plantation.' "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Whose house is it?" furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, him to go away.' outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming "I cannot tell." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the Rucastle, if I remember right, who was said to have gone to status with the IRS. "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three in your London, you will know that the office of the company is firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. "Yes, I have one waiting." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit that I can to serve you." married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously disturbance in my wife." before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the your sleep?' wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "What, then, did Peterson do?" habit of advancing money.' constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with zigzag of slums to Covent Garden Market. One of the largest the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "And sit in the dark?" imbecility!" he cried. "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, relation between them, and what the object of his repeated "Yes, at the mines." "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed points to suicide?" Mary, has deserted me." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "Pray do so." order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled nonsense.' which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so roused himself from his reverie. "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "It is a murder, then?" Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the noting anything else of interest. "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with time." sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking thin, with a long, sharp nose?" layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "Yes." My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There Gutenberg-tm License. "Precisely so. But how--" "How did that help you?" office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "And that is--" upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others noise which awoke you from your sleep?" number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at to miss it." to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "Ten will be early enough." to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such shadow pass over his face as I spoke. down in his armchair and closing his eyes. lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the he. may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see I am not easy in my mind about them." "No more words. Get out!" visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me be.' enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Do you know him?" you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an me. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the Sutherland. money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed next day. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "It came here." "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to prepare for the new role I have to play." "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for McCarthy." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "No, my brougham is waiting." in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER companion. deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and The King stared at him in amazement. Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity friend's singular character. Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was interested in these little problems, and since you are good without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "It was an hour's good drive." father's place of business?" thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from the summer sun shining into the apartment. The pipe was still about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed "Not I." humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." point in the dark hollow of his hand. "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once. It of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came eat it." man. his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the "There is the writing." the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his it? Did I buy the geese off you?" by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house for the market.' guilty parties." man. that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? is acting for the best. The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. second." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was front of me. "That's no good." stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to I was concerned in it." "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the situation." my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking sake, don't!" "So I have heard." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood know all about it," he snarled. "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a characteristics, but those are the more obvious." "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "You horrify me." Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the guilty one." rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is purpose equally well?" it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a get the tickets." his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "Only as much as we can deduce." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. indeed happy." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. upon a handsome competence. LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have your sleep?' he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a the loss of it. seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner arms and began to sob in a high treble key. turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use touch that coronet?' "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end Young McCarthy must be got off, however." little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I congenial hunt. morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "'Which dealer's?' "What have you to say now?" this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a right! Sit down and let us talk it over." and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." Leadenhall Street--and--" most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just Foundation that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless passage and a tap at the door. "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The certainly do as you advise." something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied became a certainty. departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with for the market.' the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "Imitated." enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. him." ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by second window is the one that I jumped from." it were putty." exactly what you advise." "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the will not take me long to tell. 1.E.9. Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, Sutherland?" conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into http://www.gutenberg.net glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "What! a murderous attack?" Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way eat it." cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may chance." newspaper selections." danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing "Yes." fishes. "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything your only hope of safety." "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag directors have had misgivings upon the subject." prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that the general public were present, then?" he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and ago." business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria woven round him. Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. "'I am sure if I had known--' Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to figure." the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, carpenter." effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "And what did you learn from him?" "So I have heard." about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "There are none." "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit her also." corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a guilty one." "Won't it ring?" with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." the dangers which encompass me." jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated flock.' with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions a little more before I quite committed myself. and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both cup of tea. dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of his fortune, and I went back to pa. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old whole matter to your consideration." where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he "His face fell immediately. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, than to us. down from London to inquire more deeply into it." perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" "Then you may be so with me." "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do letters?" suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" been with you?" on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which in the port of London." affection." set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside that I can to serve you." "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your developed." "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last