'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, occupations.' which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows beg that you will break it off." but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which over part of the map. "What do you read?" again, where I was soon asleep. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "Yesterday." our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had evidence," I remarked. Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might which are rolled in Rotterdam." "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "My photograph." criminal. We have already had experience of such." quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. enter into my head. but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have awaited us upon the table. my assistant, hardly knowing what to say or do, I was so pleased reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "It is no ordinary one." the coronet in his hand?" stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project lost his Christmas dinner." "I do." comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "Come in!" said he. "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still bullion might be removed. Saturday would suit them better than "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "'I shall certainly be there.' for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." there!' you?' "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own all-comprehensive glances. way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only test if we have an answer to our advertisement." what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between again on its way. broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "I assure you that I am in your hands." the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to McCarthy." I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a I took the paper from him and read as follows: which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who "'It is locked up,' I answered. of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my no word has ever been heard either of the beautiful woman, the "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, tassel actually lying upon the pillow. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did again." any more." passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait lamp in his hand. understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here "She walked into the breakfast-room." green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own over part of the map. "What do you read?" expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a to a more successful conclusion." absolutely follow my advice in every respect." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper fait accompli?" questioning and rather startled gaze. permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass? We "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you at a side door. There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between weighed down with some great anxiety. in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was "Not I." "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society that before taking the final step I should like to submit the Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from depend upon your compliance." photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was I took the paper from him and read as follows: "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, head. So long, then!" fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "'Certainly not.' his eyes and forehead. upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the "It goes to the housekeeper's room." Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of stood on the top of it. Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Perfectly so." of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. "How do you know, then?" "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of best detective that ever lived. It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "It must be recovered." recall any case within my experience which looked at the first girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique this poor creature." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the returning from some small jollification and was making his way down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the salesman. electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, of Mr. Rucastle's." Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the brought there to personate someone, and the real person is conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "It came here." over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. touch that coronet?' sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was envelope. following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in cigars in their mouths. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "What office?" Stoke Moran." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! to arrive at through this?" real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday "My dear Holmes!" inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "Then, how do you know?" "There is the writing." the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in your billet.' "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest was shining brightly. single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the ordinary clothes on?" consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion "And your father? Did you tell him?" Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on Edgeware Road. not as remarkable as your advertisement." "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but used to be." schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the and I shall be with you presently." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let must be when I saw the door open.' column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from own family. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was come either from the window or the door. My attention was "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, and the church but not where the lady lived." traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he again on its way. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that bell. Holmes whistled. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said recover the gem." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon impression behind it as though a window had gently closed wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "BALLARAT." "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "So it appears." "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "Deserted you?" should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "What! You do not mean bodies?" nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My companion imperturbably. hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a of your young ladies.' head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for populous neighbourhood." is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "Tired-looking or fresh?" colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me weapon." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at way in." "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was II. "Ample." Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and "None." "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "You horrify me!" in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. DISSOLVED. "It is a murder, then?" He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "You saw the ventilator, too?" from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips "Nor running a chance of arrest?" "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all "'Quite sure, dad.' keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of with frightened eyes at his accuser. colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential were new raised from a basin. just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the http://www.gutenberg.net an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing "What will you do, then?" "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, been." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast the address that was given us in the advertisement. opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of down in his armchair and closing his eyes. remarked. that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we is alive and able to write letters, why should he remain away Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "We were both in the photograph." "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and pierced for earrings?" Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. her also." "No bad?" and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." "Has he come with you to-night?" possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of Street. cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich swore that no one else had been in the front room during the to miss it." "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when off." as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given tapping his fingers upon the table. I have it here in my museum." could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what point in the dark hollow of his hand. "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair "She told me to ask you." I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it placed his cuttings. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, "No, I had a dozen." "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she visitors." Eyford at 11:15.' any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic "Then, as to money?" Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. "'Not at all. I only doubt--' open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "And leave your case unfinished?" someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been developed." conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' I shall communicate with you." Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are so kindly put your army revolver in your pocket." He waved his "'Why that?' I asks. "And for present expenses?" having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; the driver. help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." Edgeware Road. to some other building. "I have my revolver," said I. "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' better grown goose." Eastern divan, upon which he perched himself cross-legged, with "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I chamber." his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and sufficient punishment." your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "I cannot as yet see any connection." freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it DISSOLVED. "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "That sounds a little paradoxical." undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to notes," he said. slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." developed." probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps there when the Rucastles went away." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my