Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very morning." to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and were unconscious?" said he at last. side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of to-night's adventure." reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might one of them." vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, advice." most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first "Awake, Watson?" he asked. he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the What do you deduce from it?" months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way society." She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter three of the beryls in it, was missing. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of think that he is innocent?" The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak congenial hunt. "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. asked with his eyes open. breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What Lee, in the county of Kent." had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a best detective that ever lived. cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "Ah!" every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings relation between them, and what the object of his repeated shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Get out!" said he. have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge annoyance, but no jest. "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was grasp, he hurried from the room. prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "It is no ordinary one." ourselves in the office." "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some fashion which was peculiar to him. "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, with frightened eyes at his accuser. have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "'Very good.' any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have where she found matters as described by the last witness. Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the three of the beryls in it, was missing. seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had it." just ask you whether you had heard it.' strong reason behind." the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off next day. drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. "Who was the criminal, then?" had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you "Very. But will he see it?" open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment never will be, entirely cleared up. who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very thin legs towards the fire. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and test if we have an answer to our advertisement." there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, "The landlord of the Alpha." my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see one else, I think." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from bled considerably." making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "My dear Holmes!" lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him conduct the inquiry." too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." questioning and rather startled gaze. unclasping of his long thin hands. go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." should be taken.' "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is quite distinctive." appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in your sleep?' "It was an hour's good drive." shoulder; "he's all right." to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, side. evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "Has he come with you to-night?" overpowering excitement and concern. that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "We have tried and failed." Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from so.' "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." to change my dress. go--none." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked together. "I shall be delighted." third from London." pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey figure." contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom better in every way that they should make their position a little Holmes rather sternly. "They are typewritten," I remarked. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the "They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniture Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up tension within him. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be "By no means." of this gang." dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I Leadenhall Street--and--" "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, "My photograph." unprecedented a position." Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and quiet and anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the "Ha!" said Holmes, looking keenly at her. "It is clear that Mrs. "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may Lee, in the county of Kent." extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. discontent upon his features. mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back held up the lantern and gazed about him. He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we Where does the thing come from?' "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "In answer to an advertisement." "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes it were putty." A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to certainly not very gracious." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had the very morning of the wedding." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he made him keep the appointment." copied or distributed: "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a have one." not come at once?" not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "If so, much may have happened between." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "Well, some hundreds of times." "And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "The decline of his fortunes, then?" settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a true." over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to during that time.' trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of redistribution. jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "Quite so." "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "There is the writing." 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." kind enough to tell me what I should do." certainly not very gracious." backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project "Yes, that is the Crown." thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "But he might be a bachelor." might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "Then how many are there?" depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about this remarkable episode. "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what taking in every detail of the apartment. foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. matter." "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "That is unusual in a young girl." "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "'As governess?' the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the "How often?" things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." went into the dining-room and waited by the fire until he should which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "It came here." most important business. It is probable that he will be away all hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and during which he might have communicated with his friend the other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my wedding?" Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "Yes, they were peculiar boots." writing, and yet I know it well." credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. the tragedy. words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of newspaper selections." "It is possible." he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the charge against him will break down." fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea some city in a dream. exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. you do it in twenty minutes!' by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he window when the police appeared." points to suicide?" "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "It missed him, then?" case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice "None." opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call noting anything else of interest. thin legs towards the fire. wall." considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. fat-encircled eyes. any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Where to?" goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "'I have heard so.' aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very mysterious end." words came to my lips. present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the round and wave him away like that.' "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "What is it, then--a fire?" But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black "You horrify me." instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but opened a pocket-book and took out a note. lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy the coroner come to?" "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was friends, not even his own brother. and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent the loss of it. expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by was already answered. the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could it. was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the to have been novel and of interest." repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled "Whose house is it?" "I have come for advice." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "And I say east," said my patient. have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking later, upon the night of May 2nd." the best of training." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he in a friendly supper." away to you." suggested that the hat had been suspended in this manner for the fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the when you have done it."