inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "'And what salary do you ask?' directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." "Could he throw no light?" sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they must be when I saw the door open.' I held the little printed slip to the light. temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of Society, who held a luxurious club in the lower vault of a up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand her also." though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a itself. The rest is of the greyish colour, which shows that "And you can do nothing until then?" "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of lounged round the flaring stalls, my companion speedily overtook have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for off." friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a Project Gutenberg-tm works. quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable Beeches, Mr. Rucastle took me to a small outhouse which stands view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit "And how in the world did you find them?" "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "Never to return." which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, highly," said Holmes. "Yes. He waved his hands." his heels came the colonel himself, a man rather over the middle "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, foppishness, with high collar, black frock-coat, white waistcoat, acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled "Is he quiet?" morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He of fine shops and stately business premises that they really From what you have told me I think that it is possible that 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the beg that you will break it off." Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove spare." front of us, spouting fire at every chink and window, while in worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step the general public were present, then?" "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and Watson," he said cordially. this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, "I never have." "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He away to you." "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" of Fenchurch Street." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the "Stoke Moran?" said he. "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress we went to search for him, face downward in a little to-night?" I asked. "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a you in your example." boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a was once confined in the cab my mission was practically Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it suddenly upon us." "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom "Never." shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "Who was the criminal, then?" "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "But you have hopes?" those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from my special province." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer address. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight "The knees of his trousers." asked with his eyes open. comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was you in your example." that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." own family. introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a gigantic client. "What have you to say now?" was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City read it out to me." I was concerned in it." seen the man in the road." took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "Then you may entirely rely on me." orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to "You have a clue?" reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the "Thank you. And your address?" "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and with her." to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the the very letters. But what is this written above them?' red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age Eyford." You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a criminal. We have already had experience of such." absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely "I am still in the dark." view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too Sutherland. was a loud and authoritative tap. justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss edge of the table. Then my friend rose and threw open the door. "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, fasten all the windows?" across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The the inquest, and which are worth considering." daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no walking." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "Perhaps we may make them less so." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil notice--that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb, and that of Colonel will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of matter over." "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident in this note: and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, said I. road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being heavily into it. that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "Absolutely none." glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in arrested. You then--" "I came to find a friend." as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "Yes, but only for you and me." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm prisoner's face. Sutherland. where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" is four-and-twenty." you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend "Entirely." precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Not social, then?" always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save hand, madam?" little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "Holmes, the busybody!" again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "Of what day?" works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of "May I see it?" hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple the matter?" drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when friend's singular character. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at evidence," I remarked. shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and Dr. Gregory B. Newby come either from the window or the door. My attention was of a light. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life giving me time to thank him. "You have carte blanche." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to Sutherland, that for strange effects and extraordinary that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the awaited us upon the table. exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort "It is a murder, then?" within hail.' tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the "It's merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But province." immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the corner of the building. your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should "Yes, all." washing it down with a long draught of water. coat-tails." only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "The gentleman I describe." had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "How many? I don't know." to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I where she found matters as described by the last witness. course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" away into the river." "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried constraint." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' "You have a clue?" darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "And when will you call?" may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is that there was nothing in it, after all." "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see outbreak?" object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start served to weaken the effect. turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. interest. They are important, you understand, without being "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "No." away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up information in his hands the value of which he did not himself "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. have given you all the facts. Since you ask me, however, I may once more on the important position which you have been fortunate my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very me. You must get home instantly and act." he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons situation." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress "But his left-handedness." "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that passage and a tap at the door. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his late!' provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. go--none." "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if which was all perfectly true. money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It meanly of me." "The rest you will leave in our hands." Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." I held the little printed slip to the light. you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "Yes. We had occasion some months ago to strengthen our resources "Pray be precise as to details," said he. The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of manager. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to "'Yes, sir.' To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. south, for the country is more deserted there." respectable self." Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something the Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotion Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. more terrible than the truth. window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of shoulder; "he's all right." arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could tell me that you intended to go into harness." he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his way in." world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let in this way: 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. lamp. the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce III. mystery!" "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the could not have written that. It is the German who is so unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of have not had my rubber." tell me that you intended to go into harness." "That was it," said Holmes, nodding approvingly; "I have no doubt "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her despair. It was not yet three when we found ourselves in our "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is events than those which have happened in my own family." LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "I cannot imagine." ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took The King stared at him in amazement. handkerchief round it, but there came a sudden buzzing in my to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both later, upon the night of May 2nd." a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My seen the man in the road." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his rose-bushes. him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "The decline of his fortunes, then?" Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local This is what he says: went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. foot. hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the My friend smiled. our word." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, things are very often connected not with the larger but with the in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. God! What an exposure! What can I do?" written, and locked the door of the office after me. prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. even of instruction." is so. I know all about McCarthy." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his business came to an end." dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked introspective fashion. perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. "What! a murderous attack?" as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." galvanised. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg been deceived." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence