"'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in that you wished to speak to me?' electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with and the whole place is in a blaze." the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "Which are?" "'I have already given you my word.' (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all jewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these the stable lane now." "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are appeared upon the scene." the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily floor. importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came flock.' rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls minor matters until to-morrow." "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But would apply.' Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small "She told me to ask you." comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There said I. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "No, finished." room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do posted to-day." met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now think you a quite exceptional woman." the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "By train from Waterloo." not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to interests were the same as his." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; carpenter." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up His name is Francis Prosper." away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of overpowering excitement and concern. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a room. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been this Miss Turner." my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, "The decline of his fortunes, then?" amused." answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to believe that I should never have any practice at all. "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught to tell." photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I within hail.' laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," "Game for a morning drive?" Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From there is a decided draught." us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "And Miss Sutherland?" Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business sentimental considerations in the background which would induce rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man over with notes and figures. he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil has little to do with my story." in one or two places in England?' steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "What, then, did Peterson do?" certainly do as you advise." all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been "No." were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged I. "No, thank goodness, she did not." "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? served to weaken the effect. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the spark where all is dark to me." reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and walking." "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Yes, sir." was the fact that his father should, according to his account, the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his touch that coronet?' "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me so.' something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it been deceived." "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a individual and becomes the badge of a society." coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were seen the man in the road." foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "Then, how do you know?" years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." beg that you will break it off." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his to-night?" I asked. see me here to avoid scandal." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was wanted for ourselves." dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked evidence," I remarked. "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "My Mary? Impossible!" acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat at my remark. a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in "We must sit without light. He would see it through the her also." "And it is--" yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "No, I am descending." "Then you may be so with me." sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the a monotonous occupation." adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save simple cases which are so extremely difficult." One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project presented which may be striking and bizarre without being Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to "He said too much." look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was to go into your room and bar your shutters?" though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take instincts rose up against that laugh. "Game for a morning drive?" in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a was the fact that his father should, according to his account, "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But place no limit on the sum I may draw." volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a so far?" downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the joking. "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "That is unusual in a young girl." article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out "In answer to an advertisement." "The Cedars?" "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "Which are?" it with his own hands." bird of prey. "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water obstinate." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Well?" bade me good-day, complimented me upon the amount that I had Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our is not the only gainer by an alliance which will enable her to case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That experiences." however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be trying to your nerves." arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had disturbance in my wife." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "I cannot think." "Dr. Becher's." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for his face which made him a very different person to the round, and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the lost nothing by them." "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A down from London to inquire more deeply into it." as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really handed it to him. believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, as the one I chose?' glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked his fortune, and I went back to pa. specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point drawing your inferences." locked. she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" new acquaintance to Baker Street. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect it." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the "Now, then, what's the last entry?" go--none." newspaper selections." "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for the bottom.' Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was him, that man would not have given me such complete information our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is companion imperturbably. he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he voice. "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "Is he quiet?" feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may said he, "my real name is James Ryder." What do you deduce from it?" bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. "Certainly." British peeress.'" Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "It surprised me." shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful and all of them with the keenest interest. "Very much so." warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' is ever ready with a reply to any piece of chaff which may be there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my had this final quarrel? closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "'Ample.' prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a once more. "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a hand, madam?" "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again which our visitor detailed to us. "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an "Then dress. No one is stirring yet, but I know where the noise which awoke you from your sleep?" think you a quite exceptional woman." cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were she to prove their authenticity?" "'Is 4 pounds a week.' prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, what I may call a really hard day's work." loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "What, then?" all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "Of what?" hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "I cannot imagine." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what all?" roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." an introduction to him?" "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed and laid it on the table. after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will should be taken.' and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by Pool. dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco "Yes, sir." fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his way in everything. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a our word." until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "Was she in good spirits?" across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was frequently gained my first real insight into the character of father's place of business?" job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its "The vanishing of the lady." "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the helping a boy to put up the shutters. dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "To ruin me." the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical streets until we emerged into Farrington Street.