and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the and the colonel ushered me in. even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, in the hope of finding them." salesman. dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, business came to an end." a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "There is the writing." chair. must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her and your relations to her." I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "That sounds a little paradoxical." fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced Lee, in the county of Kent." outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of already been minutely examined." matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the figure." gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about it." brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered "How did that help you?" the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "She will not sell." Foundation A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine "It is true that I have been generally successful." the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a placed his cuttings. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "You are hungry," I remarked. put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," James Windibank. Voilà tout!" suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "My photograph." compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official out." arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in "Yes, there are nearly always some there." A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for go--none." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the floor. aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "'Yes, sir.' "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "When did she vanish, then?" which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "But it has twice been burgled." like gravel from a pit.' a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "But how?" appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He Stoke Moran." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's my room." every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its from the brougham. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "He said that you could solve anything." known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story peculiar to him. "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight "I am armed." I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very "But the mystery?" the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "'Certainly,' I answered. "That also I could fathom." did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you already been minutely examined." "'In my own bureau.' begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case meant it for the best. and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of whether it answered to the description of any of their handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other been lifted and conveyed somewhere." in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in "Where, then, is my wife?" "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had think that he is innocent?" hands. With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "That's better!" said he. "And now, Doctor, perhaps you would Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just hour?' "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. brain must have something in it." could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two walking." "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? and I shall be with you presently." that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment Doctor, of the paper and the date." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your a good hundred miles off by now." the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" unclasping of his long thin hands. in his power. mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there "Texas, I think." Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. my friend's incisive reasoning. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the foresight and the moral retrogression?" appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should "It is half-past ten now." case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to sparkled upon his finger. experiences." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend woman who has had her own way to make in the world. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved indeed happy." and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was business?" good-night and bustled off upon her way. de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a and all of them with the keenest interest. imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he the matter?" putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" trying to your nerves." thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The chance at all." him and tried to hold him back. street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "I beg pardon." same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my copied or distributed: "Ah!" was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "It was an hour's good drive." "Precisely." owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque looking up at the numbers of the houses." my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it as he folded up the epistle. penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we correct than the official force." "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every "'About the same.' base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but place of silver." analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "Look there!" said he. at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your directors have had misgivings upon the subject." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the "My own seal." crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "And how have you succeeded?" for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. hurried away. repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled him." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "Then what has happened to him?" completely overtopped every other consideration that we both old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I hard-headed British jury." the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "And now?" I asked. of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were to me. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not tightly behind him. "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." answered with a sidelong glance. comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two him to go away.' "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the paper in the air. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I been anything against him. He had for years been known as a with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled help us in this matter." "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I the very morning of the wedding." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She never will be, entirely cleared up. turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our present strange and interesting features that it is no easy were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two John Clay," said Holmes. "I have been at some small expense over it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk me, and I could not think that his explanation of the case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some the running down." "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it plantation.' to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar some water from a caraffe. recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an tell me that you intended to go into harness." alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked together. "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, directors, with the result that you have seen." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours "Ha! you find it so?" putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. Henry Baker is a member." "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the wife's character?" come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to indeed happy." own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed writers could invent nothing more crude." which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "No, but the enclosure is." "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child very peculiar words of the dying woman?" means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his questionable one." "It's nothing of the kind." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall "My last client of the sort was a king." be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call in your London, you will know that the office of the company is agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." fait accompli?" I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, legal crime." what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended future lives." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "In San Francisco, a year ago." "'And how far from the edge of the wood?' "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "'Yes, it was gone.' there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at strength." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. has little to do with my story." not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of the very morning of the wedding." conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the "Yes, but only for you and me." own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of "He is dead," cried several voices. more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is "Do you know him?" "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "Game for a morning drive?" "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. could go. them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. yet." towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped that there was nothing in it, after all." the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind confidant, the Lascar, entreated him to prevent anyone from Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the the warnings." see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "'You cannot say what it was?' let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, writer." "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in appeal." "Precisely." "Stolen." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the and looked back. "By train from Waterloo." second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "No. What a strange idea!" had died away into the silence from which it rose. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the washing it down with a long draught of water. "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned delighted to hear it," he said. master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their and capable of preserving a secret.' by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I;