for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "Proceed, then." reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "The Cedars?" place of silver." observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from like gravel from a pit.' rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my the morning and make my own way in the world.' Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. posted to-day." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there events than those which have happened in my own family." "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the the Assizes." round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of second window is the one that I jumped from." clue in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt people don't know." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "'I have heard so.' "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. Have you good authority for what you say?" "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the the best of training." chamber." nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me himself. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the plantation.' screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that "Did he not advertise?" "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, been lifted and conveyed somewhere." now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. not personally threatened." Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I persecution?" "Did your wife hear all this?" "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is case-book, which he consulted. "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled "Were they all fastened this morning?" "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." you?' wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You locked. strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Two days later this same performance was gone through under "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a think that any burglar could have done. also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "I will, Miss Turner." the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but thought that she would have been so carried away." stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to a very grave face. hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried whole matter to your consideration." depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had appointment with me for six o'clock?" and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "And what did you see?" "We must have a cab." returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." himself to hunt down. contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's south, for the country is more deserted there." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "Were they all fastened this morning?" rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he answered with a sidelong glance. Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what me have 200 pounds?' "'Yes, it was gone.' your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage side. given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a DAMAGE. strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since tried to look out of the windows to see something of where we memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and told you possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Was she in good spirits?" seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey and no precautions can guard against." had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away said he. with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "Entirely." Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Quite so." brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of I shall communicate with you." "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is "The doctor?" to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of assist you in forming an opinion." "What then?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless particular state visit http://pglaf.org if only as a check to my own memory." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right disappearance of these gems?" are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "I am still in the dark." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" distinguish the words: of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "Perhaps we may make them less so." me where it went to?" "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round developed." you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a "Only as much as we can deduce." moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he away to you." mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third my friend's incisive reasoning. it." than was visible to me." companion quietly. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "So it appears." Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the legal crime." it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy fishes. learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't minor matters until to-morrow." her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "I am following you closely," I answered. instincts rose up against that laugh. was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but words came to my lips. ways of our fellow-men." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant "My private note-paper." Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "The doctor?" "An accident, I presume?" aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you discover that there was a deposit of fuller's-earth in one of my a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for what is your own theory as to what took place?" "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "You have the photograph?" dates and names. open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set during that time.' which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying was feeling which was the fattest.' daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, congenial hunt. the tall man who sat by the brazier I felt a sudden pluck at my long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "'Certainly not.' "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. standing smiling on the door-step. came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some there were so many in the whole country as were brought together its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" "Will you bet, then?" "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower "But you were on a friendly footing?" paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, away in different directions, and I went off to make my own "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, must compliment you." "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be the very morning of the wedding." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has him!" Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, respectable self." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he useful material for showing traces. The double line a little "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, friend's singular character. written, and locked the door of the office after me. fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he to-night?' and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "'Yes, it was gone.' "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature ways including including checks, online payments and credit card wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second position forever. The will is very clear upon that point. You had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." "But she could not love him." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "No." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "But I am all in the dark." direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "I would pay ten." "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "Just look it up, then." Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my him!" right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. "Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." the running down." the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and obstinate." "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat was a perfect sample of the class. "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a hands. retorted upon me, and I on you." has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many Holmes' thin, eager face. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "The Coroner: What do you mean? Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he married her." "My dear Holmes!" "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant and that he would see to anything that turned up. considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She something of him before." "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard true." was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "No bad?" importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "There are none." My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive that I may have something better before very many minutes are "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in "And sit in the dark?" adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just "He is still with you, I presume?" hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, Surrey." "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "Dr. Becher's." young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a "No, my brougham is waiting." in a very precise fashion." graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "'Ample.' houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are friends, not even his own brother. reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "And from a noble client?" doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. retorted upon me, and I on you." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just matters immensely." Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had not come at once?" when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us "But what harm can there be in that?" the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which "None." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall acted in my house last night?" "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was lectures into a series of tales." Literary Archive Foundation however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double bearing upon the case." but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you