bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "'But was there another with a barred tail?' I asked, 'the same building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in became a certainty. in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "Your presence might be invaluable." "Could he throw no light?" arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "Was there a secret marriage?" "'Where to?' Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and "It is his hat." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, closely." her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I "Then you may entirely rely on me." "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "You are all wrong." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled morning." "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a Holmes' thin, eager face. with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock placed his cuttings. foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. me have 200 pounds?' connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "It's nothing of the kind." with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is "Certainly." tied." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "If so, much may have happened between." he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he any more." squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "No bad?" "That's no good." believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and "What?" "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." "'Certainly,' I answered. "Indeed! Whose, then?" weary and pale-looking. definite end. understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "'Yes.' next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there sound at heart." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way to talk it over. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I matter." How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "You think so, too?" quietly, sir, the three of us; and we keep a roof over our heads office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who of it with the greatest attention. was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I Gutenberg-tm License. submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." completed the cure. I shall take up as little of your valuable is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her out." his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything papers." didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. back into the street. be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "'Entirely.' when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, details." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "But your client--" material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, strange features which were associated with the two crimes which sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw meant it for the best. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "Entirely." by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. doubled it over, and read the following paragraph: have an American origin." determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying Arthur Conan Doyle could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. the inner apartment." "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been distance from the station, and there we found the young lady but preventing her from injuring another. "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to confronted him. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and question you as to those details which seem to me to be most papers." will not take me long to tell. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "Very murderous indeed." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of father's place of business?" once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in "Two days later this same performance was gone through under and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "That is easily got." must be when I saw the door open.' very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little III. strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle wedding?" that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we coat-tails." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become quite distinctive." "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss excitement. The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "Yes, that is the Crown." sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of some mystery and the punishment of some crime." a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled enter into my head. his face which made him a very different person to the round, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "Yes." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into you." "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The sooner or later she must fall a victim. why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well bill, which interests me deeply." "I shall be delighted." "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I burst into a hearty fit of laughter. themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "Perfectly so." of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. fishes. smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person ourselves in the office." entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." suddenly upon us." "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is his face which made him a very different person to the round, I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little information in his hands the value of which he did not himself But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my amused." your room." world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, overpowering excitement and concern. have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" waste of energy." constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "It is very kind of you." to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the "Get out!" said he. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "What shall I do?" "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the you." time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I waste of energy." square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. chambers. at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "What office?" 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people shall not find me ungrateful." impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, "'What then?' I asked. 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted do." weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: highly," said Holmes. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "An accident, I presume?" It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the pressing in one house as in another. grasp, he hurried from the room. without a word or a look. these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The "Was your sister dressed?" with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez do you make of it all?" not use it unless it is absolutely needed." about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but had picked up in the wood. "Her father is very rich?" "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still customer of his, who forgot all about it for some days." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be tassel actually lying upon the pillow. one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an locked. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and very peculiar words of the dying woman?" one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never taking in every detail of the apartment. we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, "Yes, but only for you and me." action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Look there!" said he. Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of the station." "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside thirty. window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and towards the blaze. dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "How are you getting on?" stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. people in all walks of life. yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have be. where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold Street. wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was like that before?" spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have "Never to return." It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian as this. Pray let me have the details." someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, an introduction to him?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "Will you bet, then?" helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no situation." allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. as this. Pray let me have the details." "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all there was no need for father to know." really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I have faced, although I am a man whose character has never yet snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with been anything against him. He had for years been known as a "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy knowledge of the world." have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in secret." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "You have but to name it." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled down from London to inquire more deeply into it." fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "But how?" interest. They are important, you understand, without being "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, this remarkable episode. forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is the coroner come to?" "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing events than those which have happened in my own family." "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote the Red-headed League." business matters.' signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. "What shall I do?" "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you age and position. We had, however, an aunt, my mother's maiden which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." "Nothing?" such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other is," said he presently: "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "I assure you that I am in your hands." silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "But your client--" should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" and prosperity to your house. Good-night." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "What, then, did Peterson do?" That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is be.' one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first McCarthy." that he will be back before evening." serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." such attractions and accomplishments?' fuss that is made over them." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "To the police?" THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE weighed down with some great anxiety. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time the ceiling. ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable said he at last. inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain