test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some "That is unusual in a young girl." lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated "They are typewritten," I remarked. He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Then I shall certainly come." "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets "None." Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke "I never have." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with already referred to. should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." with you alone." narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "That is unusual in a young girl." until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as you." "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was just called myself is not exactly my own." "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his from the brougham. "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be introspective fashion. see me here to avoid scandal." "Stolen, then." and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which "One horse?" interjected Holmes. her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time back into the street. fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four that you can jump it.' crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who you?' deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "It seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated," said But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "A confidential servant?" houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of the child." "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in of the efforts of the United States government and of the better a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to believed it?' He spoke in a jesting tone, but there was no jest both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "Only as much as we can deduce." we went to search for him, face downward in a little Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob events than those which have happened in my own family." grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the "But who is he?" occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place approach us with offers to donate. possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might know all about it," he snarled. hurried away. "You don't mind breaking the law?" kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You intimate personal affairs in this public manner." on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. a hearty supper, drove to Paddington, and started off, having "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the The telegram which we eventually received came late one night making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps be there in time for your coming." of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether of Mr. Rucastle's." "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & things are very often connected not with the larger but with the As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how closing the door. He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in voice, changing her seat as requested. the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you late!' usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the jewels which you have stolen?' was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight strong reason behind." and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to call for protection in the marriage market, for the present stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of "Married! When?" "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and shall not find me ungrateful." "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked him and tried to hold him back. of a light. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." "But how?" "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was governesses in England are getting 100 pounds a year. Besides, company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who wedding?" "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly side, and yet he sat now as absorbed as ever, very thin, very business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "That is possible." that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." of campaign. ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get husband's writing, madam." say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder developed." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark importance to keep at three. From that appointment he never came difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were once more on the important position which you have been fortunate dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this your troubles." Holmes' thin, eager face. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in could gather together that I was able to avert another public fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief for securing the situation." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "'Which dealer's?' perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for IS help us in this matter." "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion envelope in one hand and five dried orange pips in the look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the conceal it?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your this man was intellectual?" of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "VIOLET HUNTER." swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been bachelor.' "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' maid will bring up your coffee." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it the very morning of the wedding." "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and not as remarkable as your advertisement." above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. formidable man--a man who might play a deep game. I tried to set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "My stepfather's business papers." agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "Your sister is dead, then?" breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "No, but the enclosure is." instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after certainly not very gracious." "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this morning." weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might fire. You quite follow me?" should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "But she could not love him." minor matters until to-morrow." ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the she to prove their authenticity?" the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' disappearance of these gems?" PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE good for you to do.' "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "And why?" the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, think that any burglar could have done. "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "Nearly eleven." "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It "But his left-handedness." whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are back to my heart. "'Yes, I promise.' business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "'Never,' said I. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view a room. Serpentine Avenue. liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on the matter." "And what then?" "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my views." pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "Then you may be so with me." "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no in darkness. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before digesting their breakfasts at home." are windows in it, of course?" "The murder was done with it." him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, business at Coburg Square is serious." is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same several quiet little villages up there." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "Oh, fresh and glossy." is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, went to the Alpha were town bred." "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There and it need not interfere very much with one's other "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into already been minutely examined." fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "And leave your case unfinished?" thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of beg that you will break it off." labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "'Ample.' initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes to you." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you chair. "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, appeal." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." business?" the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. the bedroom. Thrust away behind a curtain in the front room were and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. discontent upon his features. broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly "Upon what point?" have I gained?" "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." use an arc-and-compass breastpin." gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might you understand?" hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very you found me to-night--and running through the front room she woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of hurried by. Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant she might be summoned. "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your morning." "I have my revolver," said I. Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in name is different." floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "Yes." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" intimate personal affairs in this public manner." story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he writers could invent nothing more crude." instinct which gave me that feeling. At any rate, it was there, however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. "Married! When?" lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly to you." blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be lamp in his hand. "What are they?" page at http://pglaf.org client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of "Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. back alive. hereditary King of Bohemia." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to appeared upon the scene." the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I and it need not interfere very much with one's other would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little your only hope of safety." footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. "Ten will be early enough." the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small one else, I think." said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the some place of shelter and let the county police know what has quite distinctive." in his hands." fuss that is made over them." "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we Henry Baker is a member." "So I am. Very much so." His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed ordinary clothes on?" "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "And what then?" into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And "'A dozen yards or so.' a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. "What is it, then--a fire?" the coronet in his hands?" greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a to miss it." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "How many? I don't know." good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by late." important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The