The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in anything to a woman, for she would have her way." without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan Arthur Conan Doyle Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried her also." lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words than to us. "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, persecution?" propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my drove away. part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted wedding?" "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "Then, how do you know?" matters immensely." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." call you and give you the chance." "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, away into the river." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you said I. said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove "We were both in the photograph." me where it went to?" "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "The doctor?" cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which following enigmatical notices: my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "Yes." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This province." "That is easily got." never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in straightened it out again. tear off another piece?' has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my strength." hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "That is easily got." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' to a more successful conclusion." "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small my special province." he. their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. appointment with me for six o'clock?" in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "You think so, too?" "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined "And you don't know his address?" "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made of campaign. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "'I shall certainly be there.' "Then you may be so with me." abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he of note-paper. It read in this fashion: "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "Never." "And is that all?" resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "My last client of the sort was a king." which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was 11:15.' seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "She walked into the breakfast-room." "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and sneer upon his pale face. him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an "I am about to be married." his grey eyes. "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "But you can know nothing of this?" without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "No good news?" Arthur Conan Doyle relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the this as likely?" exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and come either from the window or the door. My attention was wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. soul! here is her carriage at the door." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far the so-precious time, but come!' village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned "Thank you. And your address?" "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "What! Had he lost his wife?" green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" "Very. But will he see it?" to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "Was she in good spirits?" "And leave your case unfinished?" lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" telegram would bring me down to your help." "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable get the tickets." round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with "You have but to name it." Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity "Whose house is it?" your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' photograph a cabinet?" "What can it mean?" I gasped. trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "Certainly." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as taking in every detail of the apartment. scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from house for five minutes.' shall not find me ungrateful." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. guilty one." are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the You can understand that this register and diary may implicate appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the hardly wander." "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that matter." which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my at a side door. work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "You horrify me." Eyford at 11:15.' follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a not within a twentieth part of the market price." constraint." I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, the nursery. off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth "And I say east," said my patient. despair." "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my round and wave him away like that.' train from Paddington which would bring you there at about outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what some mystery and the punishment of some crime." "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. details." "Stolen, then." Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in cause to be." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, soul! here is her carriage at the door." "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, "An enemy?" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "The murder was done with it." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that existence." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's all-comprehensive glances. ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his residence of the great financier. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. over part of the map. "What do you read?" We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "'Never.' down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he this remarkable episode. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with other lovers by making love himself." me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his "Not in a good cause." sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. of campaign. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This http://www.gutenberg.net we went to search for him, face downward in a little you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "VIOLET HUNTER." cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, Leave Paddington by the 11:15." the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him opened the door, and slipped through. "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "None." gone before you can get him to hospital." chair. detective. door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "Yes." "Quite so." the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his the south-west, I see." in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was London for the present?" and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that ago." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw invisible to me," I remarked. serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. sit on the left-hand side of the driver." blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. have established a very serious case against the son of the Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view "Who by?" giving me time to thank him. It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "But you can know nothing of this?" of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had weapon." reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. tell him that I know him to be innocent." follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but "Just look it up, then." solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the weapon." "My last client of the sort was a king." "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "'What then?' I asked. Pope's Court. "Two days later this same performance was gone through under turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "Then I am your man." fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "One of his hands." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea night.' said he. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "I think that I had better go, Holmes." keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night. fishes. something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold Lee, in the county of Kent." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it other, as fresh and trim as possible. ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "What have you to say now?" round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap time." outsides of the windows. mysterious business." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "Do you know him?" in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "I cannot say that I have." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for union?" surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near enough to aid us in our search." business." "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" thirty. did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than brought there to personate someone, and the real person is from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which and inquire as to the address." the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." daring than any effort of the imagination." lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon guilty parties." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "I fear not." to a more successful conclusion." sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." very morning of my second wedding." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not http://gutenberg.net/license). "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch "I am in hopes that she does." strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, me have 200 pounds?' "Married! When?" was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "When did it break out?" seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "I was afraid that you were engaged." with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than out." not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending