green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that if she had month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which conceal it?" Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when gone. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter John Swain, of St. Augustine. down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears for securing the situation." call for it in person on Monday morning.' very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones cigar and let me expound." "He is dead," cried several voices. you for a few hours?" he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the your troubles." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite taking in every detail of the apartment. All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "He is still with you, I presume?" confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to the matter?" of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and "I started off, Mr. Holmes, but when I got to that address it was as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to everything which you would wish to know." "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of and afterwards under Hood, where he rose to be a colonel. When you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Then what has happened to him?" "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your "I am sure." "The Cedars?" in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such and no precautions can guard against." prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then certainly not very gracious." the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, directors, with the result that you have seen." the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had disturbance in my wife." daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name frequently gained my first real insight into the character of written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different upon a handsome competence. his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" "Certainly, madam." moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of "And what did you learn from him?" play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so "But what will you do?" offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King tell them apart.' pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when orange pips. "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, crowd. silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "I think that I had better go, Holmes." ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method "Yes, he did." that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round occurred." shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were "Yes, there are nearly always some there." did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled impression behind it as though a window had gently closed pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It weary and pale-looking. "No?" enter Dr. Roylott's room." be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. than to us. America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "You'll never persuade me to believe that." house for five minutes.' sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with Pope's Court, Fleet Street." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who said Mr. Holder. companion quietly. man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, things are very often connected not with the larger but with the about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, means taking possession of that which another person has a prior terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman. corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." McCarthy's innocence. opened a pocket-book and took out a note. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "So I heard. You have him here?" word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which "With the result of driving it through the ventilator." gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the "You heard nothing yourself last night?" "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. right! Sit down and let us talk it over." telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with may never be exposed to such a temptation." late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no goes." collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it way in everything. lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very feature." at a side door. agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just which I could not give. He asked for Alice. coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I "Of what?" chance." "No bad?" afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in the roots. our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. the morning and make my own way in the world.' with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "But what will you do?" waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's cost them two and thirty pounds." cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" prisoner's face. He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation "'And the work?' of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project woman." more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 written, and locked the door of the office after me. "I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak." Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the tied." myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set even of instruction." room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in interested in these little problems, and since you are good among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through gives a meaning to it." on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." bachelor.' "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me with you alone." my former friend and companion. before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with lumber-room." chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in Holmes' thin, eager face. hesitated to jump until I should have heard what passed between "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is all that?" few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "No." As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was he bowed and left the room without another word. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the most interesting one." assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing generous with you in money matters.' set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not "How are you getting on?" was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan rose-bushes. threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a "He disappeared so suddenly." can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case as noiselessly as she had come. insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was criminal. We have already had experience of such." bonnet, and went out." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied acted in my house last night?" dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." said I. really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? heavily into it. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well troubles have been weighing upon his mind. case. I can make neither head nor tail of the business." important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The feature." crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I upon the white wrist. "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue is so. I know all about McCarthy." impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a now. It seems that there had been some informality about their received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with weighed down with some great anxiety. "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom events, Mr. Windibank!" shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two and looked back. for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my least a most suspicious remark." guilty one." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which "And now?" He raised his hand. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and towards the blaze. we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. charge against him will break down." thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of if I call to-morrow?" your equipment. "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of Farm upon the left." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose business came to an end." Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and society." "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it invisible to me," I remarked. always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" to-night's adventure." where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. bled considerably." of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. fly from the country. If he braved the matter out, death would credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too sofa. This way, please!" becomes even more simple." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction had a long day." questionable one." poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; that I may have something better before very many minutes are "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. case before our client came into the room." in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "He said too much." public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an "'Yes, I promise.' clang of the bell. little adventures." which we had just quitted. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing "They are typewritten," I remarked. wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "Proceed, then." have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which generous with you in money matters.' "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It helping a boy to put up the shutters. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "It is possible." the loss of it. massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of arrangements." my former friend and companion. he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. mysterious business." that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our tension within him. have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain a little more before I quite committed myself.