Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope "'What do you call purely nominal?' her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you round and wave him away like that.' "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had weapon." at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. on in his house." "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg "It is half-past ten now." professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed joking. those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and over part of the map. "What do you read?" the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater second." law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman outbreak?" to you." have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet the grasp of some resistless, inexorable evil, which no foresight across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, instituted." As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. events, Mr. Windibank!" like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "Not him." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "Your presence might be invaluable." "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the imbecility!" he cried. heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him remarked. box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say for and were ordered to this address. say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were DISSOLVED. "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go "I will try. What is it?" abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up ordinary clothes on?" said he. there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. Mrs. Rucastle are going on a visit, and will be away all the "Her father is very rich?" deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "'Never,' said I. a good hundred miles off by now." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really less than 26s. 4d. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the not as remarkable as your advertisement." leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the Foundation that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have to arrive at through this?" I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not to see that the which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical already been minutely examined." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, My friend smiled. a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "I have come for advice." he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are "Yes." "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to "And what did you learn from him?" following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if better in every way that they should make their position a little I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil think that any burglar could have done. an introduction to him?" pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. "I do." Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that "Pray do so." his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, him to be an active member of the medical profession." Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in conversation I have gathered that they have been married about know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted "To ruin me." "But he might be a bachelor." starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, over part of the map. "What do you read?" "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "In answer to an advertisement." his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate get the tickets." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I that circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a have not had my rubber." Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" writing, and yet I know it well." "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out down. "And how did he make his money?" "And how in the world did you find them?" "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "I am all attention, madam." and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and knowledge of the world." there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between means taking possession of that which another person has a prior "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that Holmes. But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Has he come with you to-night?" machine and took a good look at it to satisfy my own curiosity. passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "In your heart of hearts, do you think that Neville is alive?" bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to Watson," he said cordially. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to prepare for the new role I have to play." "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the What do you deduce from it?" "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "How often?" "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the "A confidential servant?" from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or "Witness: I must still refuse. intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "Precisely so. But how--" of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer "Could he throw no light?" conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could will not take me long to tell. reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside so far?" murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." she used." "To the police?" common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough "No sign of it?" be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call "Was the window open?" "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. second window is the one that I jumped from." Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and like that before?" analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "And it is--" black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical "Very well, sir. And this stone?" with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "Yes, sir." "Because he was handy and would come cheap." already been minutely examined." "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "I saw her in conversation with her maid." conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited "Never." hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this and effective." insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you He took an orange from the cupboard, and tearing it to pieces he one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens not interfere, come what may. You understand?" said he with an oath. 'Tell Mary that I shall want a fire in my "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "And on what day did he meet his death?" to arrive at through this?" seem to you to be relevant or not." Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of him and tried to hold him back. miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned sake, don't!" prepare for the new role I have to play." returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain interest. They are important, you understand, without being as he remarks, very much against the son." "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind think you a quite exceptional woman." web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad "Entirely." then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "You'll never persuade me to believe that." occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "No, thank goodness, she did not." fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the result. I only quote this as a trivial example of observation and already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, "Where, then, is my wife?" He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of the leaking cylinder. He had set the engine at work. The lamp "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a crackling voice. "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save the iron safe, which he closed upon it. that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" once more on the important position which you have been fortunate walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular nice household for a young lady." "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus it right.' "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is laugh and put his lips to my ear. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, of it with the greatest attention. him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran of." "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the society." what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "In what way?" asked Holmes. we rattled along with a country hedge upon either side of us. was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, fashion which was peculiar to him. Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there "Dark enough and sinister enough." "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be "I was mad--insane." darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and comfortable-looking man that it was quite a pleasure to look at back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I crowd. could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the "By all means." "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce accustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon the PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no and I said nothing of the matter to the Rucastles as I felt that little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was My friend smiled. "No, but the enclosure is." Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from correct than the official force." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one "Yes, I have one waiting." and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. possibility of something of the sort, and I had two police the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! affair. "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first our word." a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! points to suicide?" "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back careless servant girl?" comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "What can you not understand?" wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the this unhappy family?" applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both letters?" crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows adventure of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt have had none more fantastic than this." moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my "You heard nothing yourself last night?" of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "Was the window open?" prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the overpowering terror? I left the breakfast-table, and as I "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking any more." so.' "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on rooms." "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an visitors." the general public were present, then?" we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a wedding?" at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "No. His orders were to stay in the house." "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower other lovers by making love himself." Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the colour had been driven from his face. What do you deduce from it?" "You heard nothing yourself last night?" coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "It surprised me." a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort his fortune, and I went back to pa. came in, but when I came down to breakfast in the morning there His smile broadened. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and him!" very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as was a perfect sample of the class. room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white from you?" and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "'As governess?' "I promise," said Holmes. in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she "And Miss Sutherland?" have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you round and wave him away like that.' after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will occurred." the bed, and you in that chair." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to my friend's incisive reasoning. may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child joking. akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but "Not yet." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "I will, Miss Turner." the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in showing my impatience. unclasping of his long thin hands. look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save 'Cooee!' before he knew that his son had returned. Those are the "None." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a locked." elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm