against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come help us in this matter." coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss directly by questioning you." "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. threw himself down with his face to the pillow. heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "Of what?" "If I can be of use." must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in waiting for us. She had engaged a sitting-room, and our lunch putting in the horse. despair." "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. quick march!" "'Oh, no.' "The murder was done with it." "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "Ha! you find it so?" "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "Frequently." "My Mary? Impossible!" means which he is quite incapable of employing, or even of has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning was no sign of any violence, and the water was but two feet deep, upon an income of about 60 pounds." the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building gbnewby@pglaf.org "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his Holmes' thin, eager face. took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." mystery." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "She walked into the breakfast-room." one which it was hard to resist. give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. mistaken if we do not hear from her before many days are past." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east have an American origin." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is His name is Francis Prosper." vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became is entirely a question of barometric pressure." I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic orange pips. thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his bird I ate is country bred." writers could invent nothing more crude." "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to copied or distributed: They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "Where is it, then?" month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." towards the blaze. "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "How did he come?" "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I populous neighbourhood." writers could invent nothing more crude." "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same geese which you supplied to the Alpha." this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A these bleak autumnal evenings." as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you time." photograph a cabinet?" employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "I should like to see him very much." to tackle the facts." or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner one or two very singular points about this room. For example, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an "The rest you will leave in our hands." leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "I will do it." has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally enter into my head. deduce something from that?" from you?" be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, "Pray do so." felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some habit of advancing money.' "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if forbidden door. you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been in my life." his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he during which he might have communicated with his friend the set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, American. Then who could this American be, and why should he said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to signal between you and your father? seem to you to be relevant or not." wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden "Ah!" furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in front, down the tradesmen's path, and so round by the garden Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly "Yes. He waved his hands." The police have openly confessed that they can at present make insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, is," said he presently: "Game for a morning drive?" this truth that in these little records of our cases which you signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor newspaper selections." flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad card was brought in to me by one of the clerks. I started when I myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "And how have you succeeded?" my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "Where, then, is my wife?" "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice will find little credit to be gained out of this case." had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "An accident, I presume?" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike. Then he I had called upon my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, one day in the "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and which she slept. Imagine, then, my thrill of terror when last broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "'Yes, it was gone.' "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his married her." nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and was lame." matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that Gutenberg-tm License. like that before?" thought that she would have been so carried away." saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "I would pay ten." plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs "And what did you learn from him?" "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and have one." Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, photograph?" The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the peculiar to him. "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me them present such singular features as the strange train of assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "How did you deduce the select?" refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella "'Yes, it was gone.' prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how Mrs. Toller serenely. from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a what do you think they found in the pockets?" "'There is a drive, then?' collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an with her." Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." good-night and bustled off upon her way. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into for its centre. "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. Cross for the Continent." submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no this poor creature." comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. my special province." subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the passion also for Indian animals, which are sent over to him by a the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the of your young ladies.' If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building other, as fresh and trim as possible. About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I coroner's jury." he bowed and left the room without another word. "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered of Mr. Rucastle's." an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four "Where did he live, then?" "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "Where to?" "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen "'I have heard so.' his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was voice, changing her seat as requested. hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "At what time?" "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying said I. disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. ordinary clothes on?" grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "I am following you closely," I answered. own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for "'Which dealer's?' Eyford." Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the business." "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "You think so, too?" police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "The Cedars?" south, for the country is more deserted there." "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "The landlord of the Alpha." young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "No." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little "The knees of his trousers." in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." made him keep the appointment." Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite the Assizes." himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "And why in hopes?" I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second existence." Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. with you?" "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a confronted him. "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go gigantic client. of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "Proceed, then." "Is he quiet?" He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we you." "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "'How far from the body?' This is what he says: way in everything. "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and "I answered that I had not. sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his garden below. Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "I cannot tell." labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "My Mary? Impossible!" to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in this man was intellectual?" which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself some mystery and the punishment of some crime." in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right Where does the thing come from?' had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical daring than any effort of the imagination." the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "But his lameness?" what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully "I think it very unlikely." "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." "In heaven's name, what for?" recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out his huge brown hands. yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one address. box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say individual and becomes the badge of a society." and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it nice household for a young lady." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and to have been novel and of interest." opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those "In what way?" asked Holmes. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew been shamefully used." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been peculiar to him. interest. They are important, you understand, without being himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has