it right.' beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been a monotonous occupation." said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has people don't know." "Yes, but only for you and me." strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle tail." "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "You are certainly joking, Holmes." of it with the greatest attention. "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "He is still with you, I presume?" locked." black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And vanished into the darkness. that, and I came down." leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few to have been novel and of interest." and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in murdered man." "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange "I fear not." that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried stalked out of the room. "I should wish to." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it mystery may be cleared along those lines." it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and "Why did you beat the pavement?" something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "It is very kind of you." power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were signal between you and your father? known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, Holmes. "I will try. What is it?" sad-faced, refined-looking man, black-haired and smooth-skinned, "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable just called myself is not exactly my own." stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a digesting their breakfasts at home." that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and high-nosed and pale, with something perhaps of petulance about happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest you in your example." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was suggested at once that there must be a communication between the he humours her fancies in every way in order to prevent an Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "And why?" process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are made his money." some water from a caraffe. "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my several quiet little villages up there." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed fire. You quite follow me?" made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he instituted." call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I Where does the thing come from?' have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." preparing for an all-night sitting. He took off his coat and the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was husband's writing, madam." "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this "I should wish to." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon "No, but the enclosure is." same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "No." schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "BALLARAT." constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. then?" the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. became a certainty. "And from a noble client?" building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. our word." "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I likely to be some crony of the landlady's." there has been an enclosure here!" Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. asked. and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to "And your father? Did you tell him?" upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery me what he had done with the three missing stones. "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who he died? stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may undoubtedly my uncle's." astonishment. do you make of it all?" speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but where we are going." begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "Who was the criminal, then?" one else does; but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly. Such a reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "No, thank goodness, she did not." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the "If I can be of use." "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so beyond words. man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the and shall probably return to London by the evening train." your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "I am in hopes that she does." He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a Holmes' face clouded over. showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "None." Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no joking. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin http://www.gutenberg.net opened a pocket-book and took out a note. developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over have not had my rubber." say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might of note-paper. It read in this fashion: page at http://pglaf.org the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would little adventures." observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "I answered that I had not. and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." "What, then?" beg that you will break it off." beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange families. Now for the facts. interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting burst out into a roar of laughter. you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian cries. The ceiling was only a foot or two above my head, and with "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "I cannot imagine." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the "'Stolen!' he cried. "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands hurried by. in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and fluttered off among the others. for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again "How are you getting on?" to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "No, distinctly professional." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. ventilator." impression behind it as though a window had gently closed who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive Literary Archive Foundation along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. "'I have already given you my word.' purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "'What would be the hours?' I asked. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "We must have a cab." at my own good fortune. inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed overpowering excitement and concern. Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he extraordinary contortions. had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he "At what time?" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. foot. the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated chair. "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be voice. Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was lectures into a series of tales." "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the seen the man in the road." call you and give you the chance." paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have distinguish the words: What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "Then I am your man." have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" "No. What a strange idea!" "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. help us in this matter." in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, waste of energy." you came in." before, for it was considerably after midnight. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you laugh and put his lips to my ear. See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "She showed me, as I told you she would." that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "And for present expenses?" wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own do." "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! "The rest you will leave in our hands." "Certainly." "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord http://gutenberg.net/license). pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "I see many objections to any such theory." a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a tension within him. me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards "How are you getting on?" considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if over here." deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to fat-encircled eyes. would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as was once confined in the cab my mission was practically conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "But his left-handedness." arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the will not take me long to tell. chamber." said he at last. again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out it. He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he "Where did you address your letters, then?" such attractions and accomplishments?' "Yes, only one." "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the Eyford at 11:15.' if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir Gutenberg-tm License. time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the meant it for the best. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "'Come! come!' she cried breathlessly. 'They will be here in a clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come shall use the carriage to-night." outbreak?" been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has October 9, 1890. I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, "Ten will be early enough." charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would that there was nothing in it, after all." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." examine." "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out to miss it." submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this is so. I know all about McCarthy." It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, down from London to inquire more deeply into it." caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "Only as much as we can deduce." consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with straightened it out again. public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in highroad, where all traces were lost. I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and mystery!" later, upon the night of May 2nd." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must ventilator." his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to of Fenchurch Street." promised to bring home. "Have you her photograph?" "Yes, but only for you and me." approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a "In heaven's name, what for?" specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny "I say it is." France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I his forehead." "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not