"We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few burst out into a roar of laughter. all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly what I may call a really hard day's work." "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in politicians who had been sent down from the North. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit new duties?' that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little where he could see a dark figure in the moonlight. Sir George "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father had formerly been in part my own. writer." whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their arrested. You then--" "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that politicians who had been sent down from the North. that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were likely to be some crony of the landlady's." against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an endeavoured in my case to do. If I remember rightly, you on one week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from suddenly upon us." like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "'You understand, Mr. Holder, that I am giving you a strong proof to take care of herself." the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the "The Cedars?" "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to even so self-evident a thing as that." that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." help us in this matter." the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder "Ah!" them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the purpose equally well?" refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was and features, for he was running hard, with occasional little and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the situation." ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the of receipt of the work. you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about his following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," at my own good fortune. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest generous with you in money matters.' "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built he bowed and left the room without another word. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt "Not yet." Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in "Not social, then?" "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite the inquest, and which are worth considering." his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar way: morning." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate golden eyeglasses. "But he might be a bachelor." "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of companion quietly. caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some the salesman. where we are going." "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "I have a cab outside." of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the once more for Briony Lodge. closely." you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "No bad?" "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. wedding?" retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a October 9, 1890. "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out cause to be." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation "No, my brougham is waiting." like that before?" I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we comes from the middle window." in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his posted to-day." beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "You heard nothing yourself last night?" "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "You have but to name it." if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "Of what?" pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all said he. sooner or later she must fall a victim. "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in answer." first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an as noiselessly as she had come. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend our word." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the depend upon your compliance." Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only British peeress.'" "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, sooner or later she must fall a victim. searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." question," said Holmes, smiling. young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may depend upon my doing so.' surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four woman who has had her own way to make in the world. Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. "Last week he hurled the local blacksmith over a parapet into a I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she call you and give you the chance." bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, events, Mr. Windibank!" a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be it were putty." with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and of his shoulders. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "I am all attention, madam." one of them." "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right fell from her hand. Colonel Stark went up to her, whispered "Yes. He waved his hands." "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, of the efforts of the United States government and of the better flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would and put his glass in his pocket. pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was me. You must get home instantly and act." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper quite distinctive." exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite have established a very serious case against the son of the dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I rose-bushes. have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set Holmes." decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do asked. became a certainty. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master ill-usage at the hands of fortune. "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself spare." "I see many objections to any such theory." daring than any effort of the imagination." the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to "She told me to ask you." "I think it very unlikely." resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "But how did you gain them?" the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be point in the dark hollow of his hand. bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which mystery!" gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been something of him before." "And did you observe any change in her then?" past. however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such heavily into it. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the to that open window." ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know one that stood your friend, and that I was Miss Alice's friend read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." danger is over." the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the as this. Pray let me have the details." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which man. We can do nothing until seven o'clock. At that hour we shall "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. in his power. unprecedented a position." cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with shall not find me ungrateful." green of the new foliage. man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about the coronet in his hand?" than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out throat." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately fuss that is made over them." Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled you in your example." Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "My photograph." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not never to learn it at all." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Why did you beat the pavement?" houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third humiliation." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the been deceived." repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right in him." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped Literary Archive Foundation as this. Pray let me have the details." "If so, much may have happened between." St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn "The landlord of the Alpha." expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a been shamefully used." you for a few hours?" "He said too much." bled considerably." strong reason behind." springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And writer." stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "'Ample.' We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, daring than any effort of the imagination." to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; the Red-headed League." fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in himself. my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he hand, madam?" "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "Yes. He waved his hands." is entirely a question of barometric pressure." almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. McCarthy's innocence. "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he spare." "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate "Yes, from Horsham." other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This a very grave face. "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of clang of the bell. corner of the building. not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Perfectly so." roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would