them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "Was your sister dressed?" instituted." husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "A client, then?" "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly learned something! Where are the gems?" hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in matter over." Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a "In what way?" asked Holmes. nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my "Certainly." Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, brain must have something in it." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "Ten will be early enough." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "And how did you verify them?" stammered. outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "'Is 4 pounds a week.' his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the forehead. for and were ordered to this address. space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with present." Watson," he said cordially. fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed interested in these little problems, and since you are good "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would hard-headed British jury." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very lost nothing by them." furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help upon the white wrist. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my assailants; but the man, shocked at having broken the window, and the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. business?" means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "I am in hopes that she does." vanished into the darkness. freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "In San Francisco, a year ago." bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' come either from the window or the door. My attention was Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into see me here to avoid scandal." must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their easy-going way." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old to me. foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how questioning and rather startled gaze. from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send south, for the country is more deserted there." "She told me to ask you." showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses bill, which interests me deeply." my room." drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "Oh, yes, easily." his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "But his left-handedness." who was a member of your goose club." but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already "Then we have stopped all the holes. And now we must be silent down. one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I gigantic client. appeal." spark where all is dark to me." I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the characteristics, but those are the more obvious." appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of of it with the greatest attention. of." "No." Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can have I gained?" affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know directors, with the result that you have seen." Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and singular points about the case. What did the police think of the was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." upon the white wrist. "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' "It is no ordinary one." two rooms. It could only be a small one, or it would have been practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front "She told me to ask you." forebodings. it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "I cannot as yet see any connection." heavy and sharp instrument." arrangements." weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "Not yet." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. better in every way that they should make their position a little "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom you for a few hours?" "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for up this clue while it is still hot." cigars in the box." from you?" male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "'Not at all. I only doubt--' a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not was already answered. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all call for protection in the marriage market, for the present as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "'Then let me do so?' "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white to you." thirty. your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the "We must sit without light. He would see it through the new duties?' revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as late!' "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now garden below. have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "I have solved it." "I should be immensely obliged to you." "And your mother is alive?" her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, arms and began to sob in a high treble key. all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my himself in a perplexing position. story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was to have that photograph." "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" "Ha! you find it so?" France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about so.' the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "Nothing." lectures into a series of tales." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "And you don't know his address?" have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is may never be exposed to such a temptation." of your young ladies.' "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." do." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." round with crates and massive boxes. soul! here is her carriage at the door." "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the your bag." know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" "When did it break out?" from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without cut near the nail, and explained that the bleeding came from without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "You'll never persuade me to believe that." other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the persecution?" Holmes." said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of already been minutely examined." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." heavy and sharp instrument." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and wife's character?" "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, train.' all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed Doctor, of the paper and the date." which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "Have you her photograph?" possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "'There is a drive, then?' "But I have heard all that you have heard." at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose but preventing her from injuring another. the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "The Coroner: What was the point upon which you and your father He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "Yes, but only for you and me." and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always me, and I could not think that his explanation of the ways including including checks, online payments and credit card and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "Pray continue your narrative." whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is "That you are never beaten." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "Yes, it was twisted." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was the room while you explain this matter?" never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick I nodded again. is," said he presently: and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' "Very well, sir. And this stone?" some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but "Nearly eleven." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and of." "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's kind enough to tell me what I should do." "It missed him, then?" without a word or a look. "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his locked." his grey eyes. broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For "What I expected to see." "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, bearing upon the case." "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this breakfast?" to where he stood hid behind the curtain. "It must be recovered." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such geese which you supplied to the Alpha." bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to experiences." broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. directly by questioning you." "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into together. desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent friends, not even his own brother. "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "Certainly, madam." months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where suddenly upon us." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "But of what society?" bedroom door." tightly behind him. do." I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried out of this horrible affair." guilty parties." and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "I have come for advice." "Yes." set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to key of the affair now." young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a skylight. there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three easy-going way." already been minutely examined." monotonous voice, their conversation coming in gushes, and then since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "That was it, sir." any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that it. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this and that he would see to anything that turned up. of Mr. Rucastle's." "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me him and tried to hold him back. remarked. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On four million human beings all jostling each other within the "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house do.' window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "It must be recovered." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm obstinate." foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Very truly yours, him to go away.' "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss jewels which you have stolen?' where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked had a long day." very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not seen the man in the road." and put his glass in his pocket. "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place coroner's jury." gone. the loss of it. "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "Did you observe the colour?" "Precisely." Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." not personally threatened." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that forebodings. experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the yards of it?' treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think