"He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing have not had my rubber." wedding?" lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I "'And be laughed at for my pains. Nothing of the sort.' the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" From what you have told me I think that it is possible that a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and indeed which he could not unravel. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. Holmes rather sternly. The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and compunction about shooting them down." "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most "So it appears." "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on until night should bring an explanation. "But his left-handedness." some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two situation." golden eyeglasses. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not than to us. glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and nonsense.' "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang "Here?" highly," said Holmes. "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a is a common subject for conversation. found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead it? Did I buy the geese off you?" accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, sentimental considerations in the background which would induce spare." third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand take the flies, but not before." "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial in. months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "You think so, too?" would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. upon an income of about 60 pounds." weary and pale-looking. "And your father? Did you tell him?" with the outside air!" husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police "I do." "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "You are hungry," I remarked. you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his open." ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been the very letters. But what is this written above them?' sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth so.' and laid it on the table. I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused "But you have hopes?" The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "Certainly." suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client his wife has ceased to love him." he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "Well?" purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my "Bought." and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a fishes. either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "I should be immensely obliged to you." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "Yes?" the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" she might be summoned. it were putty." "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "Then I shall certainly come." death." that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were even of instruction." little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I "She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. She Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "How do you know, then?" that you saw all that I did." breakfast and whispered something to her husband. some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "It is a nice household," he murmured. "That is the baboon." wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will done what I asked you, Jones?" possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up unclasping of his long thin hands. of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I three of the beryls in it, was missing. mysterious end." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for completely overtopped every other consideration that we both to tell." unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong forebodings. the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long James Windibank. Voilà tout!" thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from speckled band?" would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all because she had spent so short a time in this country that she "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in colour had been driven from his face. seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. "Yes, sir." afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was signal between you and your father? purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that "Whose house is it?" "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, "Your sister is dead, then?" which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you on such a day and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more "What can you not understand?" plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "And it is--" have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon The police have openly confessed that they can at present make past. with you alone." days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "No good news?" the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he friend's singular character. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and mystery!" "Yes?" "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when all that?" until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang into the room. A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed "The decline of his fortunes, then?" "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the one of them." just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "And I say east," said my patient. used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders behind me. "It looks newer than the other things?" had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across "By no means." fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I late!' "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." putting in the horse. "And I say east," said my patient. is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "'Yes, it was gone.' then?" the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from His name is Francis Prosper." minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his fish-monger and a tide-waiter." Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "Yes. He waved his hands." me where it went to?" muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the there!' his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for Surrey." Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "You are certainly joking, Holmes." "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." companion. "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell brandy and water within his reach. of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which bird I ate is country bred." Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, row." present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the "'Certainly not.' constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what "Do you receive much company?" he asked. appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "No good news?" then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "'Never,' said I. it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "I will get her to show me." room. "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "Do you know the young lady?" I asked. "You did not overhear what they said?" upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "I see no marks." than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my "I am armed." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was man. "And on what day did he meet his death?" all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" "But of what society?" geese which you supplied to the Alpha." events, we had been whirling through the outskirts of the great away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen "You will excuse me for not waiting for you," said he; "I have, I business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom and effective." "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "Never to return." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely comes from the middle window." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite to affect your life." notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel some terrible trap for her." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are congenial hunt. there in twenty minutes." was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he there in twenty minutes." cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out married her." come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the to talk it over. we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." again." one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification lids now and glanced across at his visitor. already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but following enigmatical notices: case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if was a loud and authoritative tap. himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the him, that man would not have given me such complete information knowledge of the world." indeed which he could not unravel. "But we can't all be." mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears I nodded again. "'No, I know no one in these parts.' absolutely follow my advice in every respect." in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" companion quietly. "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." her by the morning train to the care of her good aunt at Harrow, will be renamed. "Certainly." running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead begun to whiten, even as mine has." you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the she used." and shall probably return to London by the evening train." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, Project Gutenberg-tm works. there in twenty minutes." parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "It certainly sounds feasible." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained trifles." with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to into her hand at the door and which lured her within their He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to minor matters until to-morrow." individual and becomes the badge of a society." the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and handed it to him. brandy and water within his reach. "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous "Then, pray, sit down, and let us hear it for there are several way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." returning to his natural manner. "I fancy that this grey house on "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this truth that in these little records of our cases which you conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. wedding?" upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "I will try. What is it?" season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. believe that I should never have any practice at all. "Whose house is it?" door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and "But his lameness?" I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some Leadenhall Street--and--" silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to lamp in his hand. "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself "Then you may entirely rely on me." Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just and no precautions can guard against." armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "Yes, from Horsham." assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "'A dozen yards or so.' "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be his face which made him a very different person to the round, fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Why did you beat the pavement?" quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE leave you to your papers for a little." fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to horse could go." of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given it with his own hands."