eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "And the cigar-holder?" knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble are, and they are waiting for us." "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "I do." By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his what do you think they found in the pockets?" afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one have I gained?" me. "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. them present such singular features as the strange train of stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the Sutherland?" He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his My friend smiled. stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. guilty one." think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could "Your presence might be invaluable." "None." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, completely overtopped every other consideration that we both you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now know what is wrong with it.' McCarthy's innocence. "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not leaning back in his chair. business matters.' "No." "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the rooms." "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only again." "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, "We have tried and failed." "Then how many are there?" warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "How did that help you?" "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a giving me time to thank him. figure." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will weigh very heavily upon my conscience." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few or other trace. But how on earth--" "'What, the red-headed man?' to change my dress. hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact wedding?" and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "No, I think that I'll take it." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and politicians who had been sent down from the North. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness nothing of it?" to his chemical studies. of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "'I have already given you my word.' pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. envelope. "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage in your London, you will know that the office of the company is edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." "Nothing." circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can go--none." Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small "Tired-looking or fresh?" telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "To the police?" down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, here and I will read it to you: so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "And I say east," said my patient. questionable one." he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "And how in the world did you find them?" For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no sound at heart." of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is and all of them with the keenest interest. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "Holmes, the busybody!" away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my just ask you whether you had heard it.' my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the into the room. out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "To the police?" Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when happened." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the again on its way. and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about I have it here in my museum." window when the police appeared." remarked. "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "It is true that I have been generally successful." stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about arrangements." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "When did it break out?" fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as to tackle the facts." suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the what I may call a really hard day's work." "I say that I have solved it." she used." "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "And now?" He raised his hand. over here." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." "But I am all in the dark." probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked "'Quite sure, dad.' and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that "I cannot tell." thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to have accepted such a situation. just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" 11:15.' back into the street. ran thus: listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, Foundation "Yes, that is the Crown." firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those "Then you may entirely rely on me." Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I for securing the situation." "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project and wait." "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table "But how could you guess what the motive was?" kind enough to tell me what I should do." appeared upon the scene." astonishment. village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent empty. arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed which it had come upon my father." Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another them?" we went to search for him, face downward in a little "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was call for it in person on Monday morning.' in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings had a long day." "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he your billet.' "What office?" Where does the thing come from?' the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You status with the IRS. the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "The knees of his trousers." you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his comes from the middle window." Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, quickly through a disagreeable task. good for you to do.' sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for looking up at the numbers of the houses." Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to true." him nearly every evening." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide geese which you supplied to the Alpha." self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked wanted for ourselves." The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical late." she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party to have that photograph." "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "Deserted you?" out of this horrible affair." "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left father's young wife. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the cost them two and thirty pounds." the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you "What steps will you take?" I asked. "Nothing." assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "Can I be of assistance?" The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most to Leatherhead. fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and colour had been driven from his face. feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we prepare for the new role I have to play." do.' Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. point our research must commence, and we will begin it by propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room I nodded again. called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank daring than any effort of the imagination." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. shoulder; "he's all right." to-night." what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with round and wave him away like that.' not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "What I expected to see." the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same in this note: "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in putting in the horse. "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and "Yes, he did." "To the police?" clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, other, as fresh and trim as possible. flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of the morning and make my own way in the world.' there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The the matter." advice." order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Have you good authority for what you say?" "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to think, you have already met." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the ran thus: on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Have you good authority for what you say?" brain must have something in it." himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the "The vanishing of the lady." Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from "I am sure." "Why, what do you mean?" village inn over there?" slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." "Yes." its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle Surrey." *** START: FULL LICENSE *** confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you second window is the one that I jumped from." abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day lost his Christmas dinner." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But in the hope of finding them." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are carried out of court." "If I can be of use." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and problems help me to do so." himself. Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "And how did you find out?" ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards said he. There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that three fields round his house, and there he would take his the early tide this morning, homeward bound to Savannah. I wired the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the of this gang." every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner page at http://pglaf.org she used." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, matter over." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her "I think that it is very probable." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull chance." Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. husband's writing, madam." old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. behind me. Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called me. You must get home instantly and act." grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable which it entailed upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep "Where, then, is my wife?" any." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the cigars in the box." naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there over with notes and figures. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding that threaten you." "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. said I. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their there was no need for father to know." the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she interest. They are important, you understand, without being "But I am all in the dark." covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a ago." more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do never will be, entirely cleared up. "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out he died? 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the name is different." first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a leave you to your papers for a little." walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life "'Ten to two.' work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "My opinion is in no way altered." the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I himself. I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "It is no ordinary one." "And sit in the dark?" what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels."