"'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Your French gold?" with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his south, for the country is more deserted there." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further never came back." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "'Certainly not.' to change my dress. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "I warn you that they are very incomplete." weigh very heavily upon my conscience." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that interest. They are important, you understand, without being carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' "Then I am your man." "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? easy-going way." "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Where is it, then?" call for protection in the marriage market, for the present our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards disturbance in my wife." which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in companion quietly. of." the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of writers could invent nothing more crude." stalked out of the room. "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who have reasons to know that there are widespread rumours as to the had this final quarrel? asked. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "But the mystery?" bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "Let me introduce you," he shouted, "to Mr. Neville St. Clair, of said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" away into the river." conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we I shall communicate with you." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if you want, then?' held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets goes." to run back again. I found my father expiring upon the ground, "Witness: I must still refuse. "But how?" deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She astonishment. "'Ample.' "Well, some hundreds of times." (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without had picked up in the wood. living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my outside." yards of it?' data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he "'Is 4 pounds a week.' seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence "And I to find an enemy." "So I heard. You have him here?" however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now singular business. Up to a late hour last night, however, nothing any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "Oh, the cause is excellent!" Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to which, granting the son's statement to be correct, was a "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" "'Yes, it was gone.' bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a "Your Majesty has something which I should value even more Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you The note was undated, and without either signature or address. "At half-wages, in fact." breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it annoyance, but no jest. "How did he come?" would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went "I cannot tell." that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At "I think that it is very probable." with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good maiden herself was most instructive." and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot this man was intellectual?" you." I. "And why?" "One?" recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into outside. came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely thought that she would have been so carried away." up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "An elderly man, I presume?" said Holmes. all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her "Quite so. She has her freedom." and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, four million human beings all jostling each other within the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering trifles." "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with chance." three fields round his house, and there he would take his to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my the so-precious time, but come!' all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was the inner apartment." But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that might help us?" License. You must require such a user to return or "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "Yes, he did." He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have in one or two places in England?' which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "No, I had a dozen." have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" 'please.'" deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "It goes to the housekeeper's room." The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to "The decline of his fortunes, then?" Fleet Street was choked with red-headed folk, and Pope's Court connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, there!' air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and "Well, some hundreds of times." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. "No, I had a dozen." tassel actually lying upon the pillow. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was knowledge of the world." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? sound at heart." XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that "That is not always so easy." intrusion of other matters." tail." me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and of the efforts of the United States government and of the better rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, were new raised from a basin. her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me drawing your inferences." "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about fishes. head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning recall any case within my experience which looked at the first utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Have you good authority for what you say?" "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I delirious. clang of the bell. "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name instant he stood at the side of the hole and was hauling after evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the "Why? What do you mean?" Pope's Court. such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she amused." lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. and wait." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been am unable to follow you. For example, how did you deduce that from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. call the police, let the police find what they can.' seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There "Awake, Watson?" he asked. him!" that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco along the entire front of the house, with three long windows "You don't mind breaking the law?" pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. of your young ladies.' is a common subject for conversation. fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his matter." Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself think, you have already met." and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day "Witness: Nothing definite. mystery!" with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the 1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were surprise, threw up my arms to cover my face, and, rushing to my country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger "Why did you pick him?" that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" were wasted." better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, enter Dr. Roylott's room." shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "But how?" particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some go--none." "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a 1.F. then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? posted to-day." never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "And your father? Did you tell him?" least a most suspicious remark." roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "I am all attention, madam." hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had "I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind," possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, if she died from some sudden fright." existence." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman "Yes. That is what Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, looks upon as "Here we are!" said Holmes cheerily as we filed into the room. play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and "Certainly." like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "And how?" annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your "I cannot tell." "An enemy?" Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my Holmes' room. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle and effective." with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any 'I should be able to look after that for you.' in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you crime. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into "And now?" I asked. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout see me here to avoid scandal." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of "Perfectly so." upon the shelf for the interim." clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" house, for I am a widower and never had any family. We live very of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he Project Gutenberg-tm works. groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" lost his Christmas dinner." by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the carpenter." "What are they?" the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every directors, with the result that you have seen." before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One may have an influence upon European history." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. electronic works grate there was a mass of black, fluffy ashes, as of burned "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "It was an hour's good drive." to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear perceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-hand gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded away to you." happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and America. As to what it was he feared, we can only deduce that by the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a "What have you to say now?" country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is or else I can never show my face inside the club again.' "What I expected to see." "And the cigar-holder?" He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "I see no marks." "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "And help." bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous already referred to. him to be an active member of the medical profession." she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable depend upon your compliance." specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what States. "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him