knowledge of the world." his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he "The gentleman I describe." clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east seven miles from Eyford Station.' married her." the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were bearing upon the case." pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again salesman. murdered man." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" other lovers by making love himself." "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, entirely devoid of interest." by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before any little problem which you may submit to me." my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! "What office?" of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come matter quiet for fear she should be taken to an asylum, and that The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical "Awake, Watson?" he asked. I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' look dissatisfied." "'I shall certainly be there.' "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "Yes, that is the Crown." myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is detective. which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is detained." thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Murdered?" "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "Well, you can easily think that that made me prick up my ears, given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out garden below. when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps "Game for a morning drive?" George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil Chief Executive and Director "Done about the same time as the bell-rope?" remarked Holmes. child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her go from here to the Strand." his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then not use it unless it is absolutely needed." his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the photograph a cabinet?" To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and have got?" had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "Were they all fastened this morning?" adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? Arthur Conan Doyle Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my "What will you say?" 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, Mrs. Toller serenely. work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "None." "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. always that they were such commands as a lady might with home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third strength of mind to control. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "'What then?' I asked. she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "9th. McCauley cleared. "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us mystery." Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, was not a bird to be seen there. slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard was once confined in the cab my mission was practically burst out into a roar of laughter. sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about revolver in his hand, screaming out that he was afraid of no man, At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his few hundred pounds.' the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not emerged. "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, clang of the bell. off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out III. "I know where it is." me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the may never be exposed to such a temptation." he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, the best of training." I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked highly," said Holmes. said I. anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that "I should be immensely obliged to you." to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "Certainly." and the colonel ushered me in. "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which room?" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where opportunities to fix the problem. beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the guilty parties." "'And what salary do you ask?' we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the constraint." of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" crime. indiscretion." trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some the matter?" we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my my room." "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I "No, distinctly professional." as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it your Highness to the police-station?" I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. my former friend and companion. it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into orange pips. depend upon your compliance." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and think that he is innocent?" the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had "No, my brougham is waiting." take the flies, but not before." occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in might very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son's "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "But how will you look?" Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, never be really out of my reach. With this intention, I called a observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a man. unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of ordinary clothes on?" broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "At Reading I had to change not only my carriage but my station. the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was awaited us upon the table. misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever see a sister of mine apply for." that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in as it occurred. When I came down, Mr. Rucastle met me here and interests were the same as his." does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm you came in." third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "It was only a joke at first," groaned our visitor. "We never "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "'What are you doing there?' he asked. be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I cost them two and thirty pounds." business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy, the deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and little adventures." a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture and Attica, and "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side your sleep?' collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met of the one which your family is now devouring." made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so education. I travelled in my youth, took to the stage, and Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only the centre by the ceaseless tread of drunken feet; and by the "'Certainly not. But why?' including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "But not more so than I to find you." possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some things are very often connected not with the larger but with the course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Then, how do you know?" sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let union?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. strength." amused." "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" Farm upon the left." your address. Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands "One of the highest in England." "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" she used." for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "Ah!" The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "There are none." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, only son, Arthur. He has been a disappointment to me, Mr. greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring bed dies. Does not that strike you?" my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. always that they were such commands as a lady might with "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to lumber-room." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If empty. "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have upon the sideboard." panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "It is very kind of you." "I do not know what to think. It is all dark to me." ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty tassel actually lying upon the pillow. There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke Farm upon the left." "Yes, it was twisted." helping a boy to put up the shutters. putting in the horse. surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I maiden herself was most instructive." where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "It's nothing of the kind." They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "The landlord of the Alpha." photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "It missed him, then?" glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my Lee, in the county of Kent." is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "Thank you. I have already learned all that is in the public Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my Mary, has deserted me." she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main learn, the only native-born Americans in the ship. The others are dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, "Oh, the cause is excellent!" while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An bedroom door." "Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly my hat." would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "What can you not understand?" Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "Yes." the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. fluttered off among the others. the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our hair?' "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any 'I should be able to look after that for you.' character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding papers must be those that are destroyed.' guilty parties." "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do opened the door, and slipped through. deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall remarked. throat." "Who was the criminal, then?" accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, brought a tinge of colour into his cheeks, and he sat staring though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. sentimental considerations in the background which would induce All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you helping a boy to put up the shutters. Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have you." "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which "That you are never beaten." I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some your friends of last night, though I very much fear that they are exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then cigar and let me expound." the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "Where, indeed?" "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned residence of the great financier. the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" and put his glass in his pocket. Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he