"But he might be a bachelor." "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your problems help me to do so." Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." man. glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself that you wished to speak to me?' had noticed during the day. His chin was cocked upward and his him nearly every evening." London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a geese which you supplied to the Alpha." have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for this man was intellectual?" opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out about. the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco other, as fresh and trim as possible. the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "Married! When?" Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was down in his armchair and closing his eyes. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making lost nothing by them." towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit. Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old occurred." although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in wedding?" "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of o'clock is it?" his eyes and forehead. "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls bled considerably." the station." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so "Your French gold?" and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three and prosperity to your house. Good-night." possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "No, but the enclosure is." wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from "If so, much may have happened between." "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he sufficient punishment." little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did chamber." grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass "But how?" "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That silent! Oh, he will be silent!' "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "Yesterday." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "Who was the criminal, then?" still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it delighted to hear it," he said. "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the we went to search for him, face downward in a little such person." accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might as he folded up the epistle. "And I." "On your arm?" explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you case-book, which he consulted. "No, I am descending." weighed down with some great anxiety. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." the warnings." 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet would apply.' "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest that, and I came down." "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "And sit in the dark?" called upon Scotland Yard and upon the chairman of the bank "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? over with notes and figures. was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading prepare for the new role I have to play." floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the Merryweather is a bank director, and personally interested in the dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you "Where did you address your letters, then?" "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "Awake, Watson?" he asked. "There are none." "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, Cross for the Continent." the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained figure." "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in himself in a perplexing position. over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a fact, we may call it conclusive." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and noise which awoke you from your sleep?" points in connection with it which never have been, and probably preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no true." It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a your troubles." be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." My friend smiled. entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself letters?" He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there public press." he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination a suggestive one." Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Only as much as we can deduce." harm were to befall it. Any injury to it would be almost as be there in time for your coming." "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "This concluded the examination of the witness." in a friendly supper." your co-operation." "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is side. "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of "That sounds a little paradoxical." named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we fire. You quite follow me?" a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have daring than any effort of the imagination." breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake arms and began to sob in a high treble key. be sorry for having acted so harshly." "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, the matter?" and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the always that they were such commands as a lady might with weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "That is easily got." widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad test-tube at night and find him in the same position when I came new acquaintance to Baker Street. abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the both be extremely obliged.' that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "I warn you that they are very incomplete." disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this thin, with a long, sharp nose?" beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This "I think I could lay my finger on it," said Holmes quietly. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the DAMAGE. as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon out." combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of hand upon this gang. That he should come to me for help, and that up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but will he say when he returns?" at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short Edgeware Road. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would is," said he presently: Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and became a certainty. someone or something, so we may assume as a working hypothesis drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he "'As governess?' the driver. together. corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a sparkled upon his finger. out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a asked. "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon developed." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "I am about to be married." excursion. He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the wedding?" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." for securing the situation." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, she used." "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am his face. upon the current of his thoughts. We had driven several miles, smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the he whose step I hear now upon the stair. I think, Watson, that it basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have straightened it out again. should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We galvanised. not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms will he say when he returns?" "'What are you doing there?' he asked. one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "Do you receive much company?" he asked. twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "'Where could I find him?' to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of the bed, and you in that chair." what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them weigh very heavily upon my conscience." absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly answered with a sidelong glance. dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let "How did you trace it, then?" unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we nights." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have we went to search for him, face downward in a little of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." with her." "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "You are certainly joking, Holmes." reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that round, and I could see in the gas-light that every vestige of "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. the best of training." jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have "None. Neville wrote those words." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, look dissatisfied." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and "Nothing." ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." to-morrow." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my delighted to hear it," he said. me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who "My dear Holmes!" been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself and envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." clanging. were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "It certainly sounds feasible." time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you." outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there murdered man." his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against room. ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "And is that all?" would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger informing him that he was a prisoner, he remarked that he was not of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a there is a decided draught." Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of "Did you observe the colour?" by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not "Really! You surprise me." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "My dear Holmes!" understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the "I assure you that I am in your hands." "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird him. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Then what has happened to him?" don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in Street. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "The King of Scandinavia." heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And "Has he come with you to-night?" you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear gbnewby@pglaf.org down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most happened." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the the side-table." shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. promised to bring home. fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The kindly on the shoulder. and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but "No." the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and "How many? I don't know." "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged Surrey." other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the them. There can be no question that it was your oil-lamp which, of the efforts of the United States government and of the better number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "It is to him that this trophy belongs." "'Yes, I promise.' the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the any little problem which you may submit to me." passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "So I have heard." some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a to talk it over. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our unnatural about the whole transaction which made me wish to know she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the slight indication of the course of events, I am able to guide paper in the air. furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, "My dear Holmes!" the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we