endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we yards of it?' went to the Alpha were town bred." is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a really the only notable feature about the thing." "'And what salary do you ask?' for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "One of his hands." IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "None." "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders said he. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building when you have done it." "In what way?" asked Holmes. that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' narrative." "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as should be taken.' sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the confronted him. between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of "'I have heard so.' the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed presume?" "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, in this note: Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl that I am amply repaid by having had an experience which is in his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he all-comprehensive glances. "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I ways of our fellow-men." all that?" "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: placed his cuttings. "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed "And from a noble client?" back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our fact, we may call it conclusive." wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place Leadenhall Street--and--" trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed is," said he presently: "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was all?" the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with fat-encircled eyes. incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "Did he not advertise?" "Witness: Nothing definite. of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers correct than the official force." "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "A call for help, you thought?" will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "Holmes, the busybody!" hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can wanted for ourselves." I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most think that he is innocent?" "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH enter Dr. Roylott's room." first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There was the fact that his father should, according to his account, it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I cigar and let me expound." "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the Count Von Kramm." Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their words came to my lips. his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the there." "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and possible that we could bring him back to her? rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is shag which I had seen upon the previous night. as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young arrested. You then--" into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." do.' "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were the stones. he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a I think that I could be of assistance to you." "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: away into the river." humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have served to weaken the effect. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "I say that I have solved it." "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a shoulder. Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" writers could invent nothing more crude." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to annoyance, but no jest. cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I me. "We must sit without light. He would see it through the "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It "I would give my fortune to have them back." "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "The murder was done with it." explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and upon a handsome competence. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "The gentleman I describe." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included photograph?" down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "Then what has happened to him?" "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first business matters.' window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At away from the window, so that I became consumed with the desire was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "Yes." habit of advancing money.' may never be exposed to such a temptation." "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, chill to my heart. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "The instant that I uttered the words I regretted the rashness of these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, in this way: 11:15.' up this clue while it is still hot." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed again before evening." "Just look it up, then." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the woven round him. anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "Yes, there are nearly always some there." Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "'Most admirably.' "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "And who is her maid?" travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the as the wind is easterly I have no doubt that she is now past the "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my "'Entirely.' which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." outside. "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of you." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "I have come for advice." "We must sit without light. He would see it through the fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came "'Never.' look dissatisfied." "By train from Waterloo." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped without success. At last the little money which I had saved began certainly not very gracious." "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster hard-headed British jury." the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the My friend smiled. "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose simple cases which are so extremely difficult." lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. you came in." "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking "And the murderer?" enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal. propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, is four-and-twenty." his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a me. You must get home instantly and act." Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young Pool. stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what and files of the old papers, following the future career of every akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." carpenter." greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the lamp in his hand. the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "How about poison?" "And your father? Did you tell him?" his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "No, but the enclosure is." "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before go--none." "And I to find an enemy." to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard bedroom door." green of the new foliage. street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "Why? What do you mean?" who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "No sign of it?" the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "'How far from the body?' "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. a good hundred miles off by now." like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "When Dr. Roylott was in India he married my mother, Mrs. Stoner, Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous it." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a name is different." It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "And the cigar-holder?" fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful ceremony." "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; perplexity from it to my illustrious client. face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you The summons was a brief and urgent one. the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held vault. "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Very murderous indeed." yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this this poor creature." blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the "How do you know, then?" "Then how many are there?" twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." intrusion of other matters." other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and business." Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any the window, rose as we entered. The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down charge against him will break down." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must shag which I had seen upon the previous night. one's self under obligations.' in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had case before our client came into the room." upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of he. pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she You want to know what became of those geese?" "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I where Mr. Fordham shows you.' a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." tension within him. simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of the bed, and you in that chair." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass light and attacked it." it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon both be extremely obliged.' "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." away to you." your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our have established a very serious case against the son of the habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in several quiet little villages up there." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the any more." "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found "It missed him, then?" Holmes rather sternly. "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was which we had just quitted. meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet Heh?' feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your sparkled upon his finger. sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his burst into a hearty fit of laughter. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his memory. you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous "Certainly." have established a very serious case against the son of the Arthur Conan Doyle address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they did not hear it also.' distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more article?" "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as meant it for the best. any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "The knees of his trousers." front of the hall door has given its name to the place. drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. read it out to me." more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the front of the hall door has given its name to the place. total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. tapping his fingers upon the table. eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the "Dr. Becher's." 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" forehead. How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when