creeping up to me and making a trumpet of his hand, he whispered "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to that before taking the final step I should like to submit the Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young that threaten you." "Nothing." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and his eyes and forehead. that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, relation between them, and what the object of his repeated for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." chance." who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." which are rolled in Rotterdam." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "You don't mind breaking the law?" enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "I promise," said Holmes. gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not during the last few years, and there are many noble families to my friend's incisive reasoning. was not a bird to be seen there. Street. been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for "Imitated." at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "You are hungry," I remarked. of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a "Come in!" said he. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." in one or two places in England?' as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "What of the rat, then?" telegram would bring me down to your help." "How many? I don't know." "Yes, I have one waiting." the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting "I say that I have solved it." true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." retorted upon me, and I on you." brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." the ceiling. "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know purpose equally well?" "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and instituted." contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an will find little credit to be gained out of this case." The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of use an arc-and-compass breastpin." compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers again, where I was soon asleep. before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the I think that I could be of assistance to you." "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "And how?" such attractions and accomplishments?' "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as instituted." much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. been shamefully used." as he remarks, very much against the son." has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "Certainly." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I records." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I highly," said Holmes. whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by seen the man in the road." fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly clang of the bell. To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side himself to hunt down. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell ways of our fellow-men." very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. brought there to personate someone, and the real person is naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "And is that all?" "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to manners, he was soon the intimate of a number of men with long say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, "But you were on a friendly footing?" Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is about. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about him. his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the "And what then?" "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in it with his own hands." and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "'Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, at 12s.'" would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an Does that suggest anything?" The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one invisible to me," I remarked. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "But what harm can there be in that?" corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed shoulder. "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the crowd. during which he might have communicated with his friend the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "I am in hopes that she does." feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read Cross for the Continent." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. him." though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. him." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old one else, I think." from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "And I to find an enemy." Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "No, thank goodness, she did not." "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips might help us?" There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son answered with a sidelong glance. cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "'There is a drive, then?' "On the contrary, this is the right side." at a side door. had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come passage, and I saw the lean figure of Colonel Lysander Stark days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits chamber." someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. will find little credit to be gained out of this case." all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under "I never have." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that "On the contrary, this is the right side." memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small "I was sure that I might rely on you." suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled little adventures." and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a "You are hungry," I remarked. "'I am sure that I do not know.' with her." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding "Stolen, then." It is conjectured that he may have been hurrying down to catch at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography least a fellow-countryman. points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And developed." I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "Never." Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson through." "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." was a perfect sample of the class. suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be "I have solved it." rooms." that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "My dear Holmes!" lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I over his head with a sweet womanly caress. the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "It is his hat." "Of Friday, June 19th." "On the contrary, this is the right side." conduct the inquiry." many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns along the entire front of the house, with three long windows weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be I shall continue with my miserable story. Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "What shall I do?" nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, violet eyes shining, her lips parted, a pink flush upon her "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a fuss that is made over them." front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in voice. "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. once more to my work. it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, been." morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond himself to hunt down. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the the King without delay." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and in his hands." remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my "A greater distance to travel." "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" unprecedented a position." lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the tapping his fingers upon the table. "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any Where does the thing come from?' "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down public press." "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for with frightened eyes at his accuser. knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I charged with?" Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the "Of what day?" are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were writing, and yet I know it well." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided charged with?" simple cases which are so extremely difficult." "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining Clair, of Lee." this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my on in his house." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, have got?" "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "In what way?" asked Holmes. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "Well, some hundreds of times." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads "'How far from the body?' "Why, what do you mean?" of note-paper. It read in this fashion: upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from despaired of." important." My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. to that open window." neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the business." somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we keep the flames under. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting might have a private word with us. "He said that you could solve anything." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "Certainly." typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows interest. They are important, you understand, without being work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand "One of his hands." DAMAGE. "Nothing." very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally into "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "That you are never beaten." freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be he was with a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper in the depend upon my doing so.' "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "No, I am descending." and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "9th. McCauley cleared. honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged the inquest, and which are worth considering." closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "'Quite sure, dad.' comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope companion imperturbably. "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it recall any case within my experience which looked at the first of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "'Which dealer's?' down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "Which are?" "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "No. What a strange idea!" 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, could not have written that. It is the German who is so "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and could gather together that I was able to avert another public "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "'I have heard so.' away in different directions, and I went off to make my own permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a becomes even more simple." cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His very morning of my second wedding." and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret "Oh, yes, easily." Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who several quiet little villages up there." side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist figure." "'Certainly not. But why?' "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" shag which I had seen upon the previous night. street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." outbreak?" "Nothing?" conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He Where does the thing come from?' His smile broadened.