"It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "Absolutely none." As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened money should be paid at once.' up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he of campaign. to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his o'clock is it?" "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." "And did you observe any change in her then?" of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman in him." crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows noise which awoke you from your sleep?" Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting will find little credit to be gained out of this case." surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "Then you may entirely rely on me." my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their Sholtos." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some to you." yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few him to go away.' fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a chance." observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into call it cruel." there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped brown opium smoke, and terraced with wooden berths, like the double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two bed dies. Does not that strike you?" I thought that, as we were a partie carrée, you might have your when you have done it." should be so warm over such a trifle." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some daring than any effort of the imagination." "Yes, all." could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, status with the IRS. reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Who by?" these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which "You forget that I know nothing about it." fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." thirty. I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great present." he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off chance at all." tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. cup of tea. "I beg pardon." "'As governess?' my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of "'What, the red-headed man?' and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them round and wave him away like that.' the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir "To an end?" "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said "Stolen, then." again." look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a "To an English lawyer named Norton." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person what do you think they found in the pockets?" "To an end?" full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "One horse?" interjected Holmes. case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how row." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.' common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "But how?" "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle detained." 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in second." "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the definite end. joking. Holmes' room. he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could in a very precise fashion." "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "I will do it." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up weary and pale-looking. "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my "Married! When?" her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and and glanced through. that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like frequently gained my first real insight into the character of man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his indeed which he could not unravel. "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the the ceiling. labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could "He might." red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." indeed which he could not unravel. became a certainty. a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my gentleman's clothes. this Miss Turner." my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the His name is Francis Prosper." stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any I have it here in my museum." "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our client cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And fattened it expressly for you.' We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting II. are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" what I may call a really hard day's work." unprecedented a position." "It is possible." metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your "He slept on the premises." felt?" chill to my heart. arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes the door. A gentleman entered, with a pleasant, cultured face, rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "If so, much may have happened between." "Imitated." the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll o'clock is it?" smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy "If I can be of use." have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "No, but the enclosure is." smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "'I am afraid that it is quite essential,' said he. 'It is a wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather you." "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. his knees, staring into the fire. "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who never to learn it at all." "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "What will you do, then?" "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "'How far from the body?' Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the it with his own hands." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, if only as a check to my own memory." "Absolutely?" than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to me upon any point which I do not make clear." "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell papers." it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to will not take me long to tell. "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." me what he had done with the three missing stones. before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been question you as to those details which seem to me to be most running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" what is your own theory as to what took place?" any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old business." located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from said. "Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, examine." Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use formed some opinion?" singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was salesman. "I was afraid that you were engaged." you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Proceed, then." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been and the whole place is in a blaze." the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate caressing and soothing his manner was--'and what has frightened freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, "Is he quiet?" amused." "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "But he might be a bachelor." "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." remarked. his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "You horrify me!" conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and entirely devoid of interest." "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. you." Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door "'Very good.' seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each "Frankly, then, madam, I do not." "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which will not take me long to tell. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "One of his hands." "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have this as likely?" that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "The vanishing of the lady." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It already been minutely examined." sneer upon his pale face. "Many times; but what was a fine to me?" prodigiously stout man with a very smiling face and a great heavy developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over "My last client of the sort was a king." might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's both be extremely obliged.' passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in said he. "I have hopes." of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about during the last few years, and there are many noble families to "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been Pope's Court, Fleet Street." detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent awkward doing business with an alias." dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you any little problem which you may submit to me." agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any once more to my work. it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's read it out to me." silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that of campaign. The King stared at him in amazement. pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose guilty one." While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "But it has twice been burgled." insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred his forehead." out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "So I am. Very much so." time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley "I cannot tell." should be so warm over such a trifle." Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless "What have you done?" asked Holmes. me upon any point which I do not make clear." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, "What office?" "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small "'I shall certainly be there.' as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to upon the sideboard." Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an during which he might have communicated with his friend the gone. permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs thin, with a long, sharp nose?" case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the tell him that I know him to be innocent." themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have "I am all attention, madam." gigantic client. front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any and the colonel ushered me in. could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly