dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive is four-and-twenty." one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police as the one I chose?' "I beg pardon." unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest is acting for the best. once more. of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project troubles have been weighing upon his mind. not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: "Have you it here?" depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "Really! You surprise me." its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into from you?" still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "There is the writing." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late events than those which have happened in my own family." wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to over his head with a sweet womanly caress. said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to for the market.' "I cannot think." well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so both be extremely obliged.' "Why serious?" work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind direction." as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has you." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the to where he stood hid behind the curtain. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he "That also I could fathom." and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that best detective that ever lived. as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall had picked up in the wood. seen the man in the road." dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." bachelor.' man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his him to be an active member of the medical profession." opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of of Fenchurch Street." and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock "He said that you could solve anything." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a Edgeware Road. convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we morning." problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" gentleman's clothes. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "Where is it, then?" stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. thin legs towards the fire. To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. "No legal papers or certificates?" been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "He might." it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** experiences." lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his "I saw her in conversation with her maid." British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph?" something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of affair. passage and a tap at the door. the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." himself. the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is The summons was a brief and urgent one. other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "Then how many are there?" go back?" were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place appeal." From what you have told me I think that it is possible that houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I third from London." even of instruction." question. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall been anything against him. He had for years been known as a I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my you do it in twenty minutes!' "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." fact, we may call it conclusive." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "Then I am your man." heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an must compliment you." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven inside pocket of his greatcoat. As he glanced down the Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the down in his armchair and closing his eyes. this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the been anything against him. He had for years been known as a which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, other, as fresh and trim as possible. a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, "How are you getting on?" considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She forehead. the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were should be taken.' magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "And I." "It is no ordinary one." called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!" princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of place no limit on the sum I may draw." man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, the tragedy. one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "I was certainly surprised to find you there." a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "Well, but China?" rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish not, dad?" she asked. "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "What shall I do?" Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "'Certainly not. But why?' "'A dozen yards or so.' thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. were unconscious?" drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the on re-entering her father's house?" Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "'Yes, sir.' could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. better in every way that they should make their position a little myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he again before evening." the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has fuss that is made over them." received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before one of them." my room." step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I with the outside air!" Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being miles off. hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I "Was the window open?" "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the voice, changing her seat as requested. showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while gives a meaning to it." of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept case-book, which he consulted. works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my "May I see it?" We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in four million human beings all jostling each other within the hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man union?" pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into key of the affair now." down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "Your French gold?" step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "Won't it ring?" old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been me what he had done with the three missing stones. really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, call the police, let the police find what they can.' electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or never to learn it at all." and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As away into the river." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he answer." "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "We must sit without light. He would see it through the call for it in person on Monday morning.' my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, unprecedented a position." "Did you become engaged then?" whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which "The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank was shining brightly. "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to shoulder; "he's all right." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions I. "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "The murder was done with it." finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End "What, then?" "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for upon the shelf for the interim." "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to examination of the premises, but without finding anything which gives a meaning to it." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "I assure you that I am in your hands." unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles them?" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to you do it in twenty minutes!' tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, "And what did you learn from him?" quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then detective. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we footfalls from the street. "Yes." once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" I was concerned in it." when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. tapping his fingers upon the table. slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, speckled band?" certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. results." would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can directly by questioning you." often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for jewels which you have stolen?' this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for little adventures." combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more empty. that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from case-book, which he consulted. am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his is now desirous of getting those letters back." from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had meanly of me." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "You have but to name it." "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" "How did that help you?" ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless over part of the map. "What do you read?" at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." you." "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down stammered. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there lumber-room." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle "I am all attention, madam." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "He slept on the premises." very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." ordinary clothes on?" into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his acquaintance?" returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his train.' "That's no good." Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to "I cannot imagine." you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to