she has been waylaid. There has been no result." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant think that he is innocent?" what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "You don't mind breaking the law?" "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." it. finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the the Assizes." generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged leave you to your papers for a little." flung open the window, and looked out. How quiet and sweet and "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." eavesdroppers?' 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "I see many objections to any such theory." yet." about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a sound at heart." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same had died away into the silence from which it rose. carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might about here speaks of his kindness to him." someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with you?" did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it cup of tea. "I have a cab outside." not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, most interesting one." confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "I shall be delighted." a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among be.' Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "Get out!" said he. coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "No legal papers or certificates?" near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a days of the Regency. Nothing was left save a few acres of ground, violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached take the flies, but not before." his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Why serious?" and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' "Yes." adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin "And how did you find out?" furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. forbidden door. awkward doing business with an alias." the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which what is your own theory as to what took place?" clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we "This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock to the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At families. Now for the facts. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down he bowed and left the room without another word. is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the in his hands." on the heaped-up edges of the foot-paths it still lay as white as St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your room. arrangements." "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is presume?" "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a thirty. play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of that the gas is not laid on in his house?" lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Where, indeed?" think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the very positive one, too. She has heard of you, and would have your and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "Your sister is dead, then?" painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "'Mr. Holder,' said he, 'I have been informed that you are in the which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may you, my dear young lady?' highly," said Holmes. breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined not come at once?" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you breakfast and whispered something to her husband. acquaintance?" and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just better in every way that they should make their position a little the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with "Murdered?" dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for written, and locked the door of the office after me. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "Thank you. And your address?" standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I Count Von Kramm." Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little outside. who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet noble correspondent could be. a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic as yours." again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the made him keep the appointment." works. "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's the red, jutting pinnacles which marked the site of the rich prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a conceal it?" age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, "That sounds a little paradoxical." He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for frequently gained my first real insight into the character of Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the three fields round his house, and there he would take his "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "And how did you find out?" came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an wedding?" "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. It may be so in this case, also." shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man is four-and-twenty." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to outside. spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white wife's character?" "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew along the entire front of the house, with three long windows the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as "Did your wife hear all this?" collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to I had better take a look at the lower windows before I go up." Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than question. shall not find me ungrateful." a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which States. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for danger is over." "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "'Why that?' I asks. "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "'Never.' done?" He spoke calmly, but I could see that he was deeply moved. "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I "It goes to the housekeeper's room." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My dates and names. "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and said I. "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the "Was the window open?" Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll important." Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. once more on the important position which you have been fortunate increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "Pray be precise as to details," said he. Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "Excellent! We shall then look thoroughly into the affair. Of the running down." "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the me upon any point which I do not make clear." "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "'In my own bureau.' them?" doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows lamp. however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before likely to be some crony of the landlady's." "In what way?" asked Holmes. we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we that "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." obstinate." and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat nonsense.' corner of the building. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other bedroom door." "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The meant." "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." had a long day." struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" were new raised from a basin. strength in the others." Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black Lee, in the county of Kent." Gutenberg-tm License. "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and call it cruel." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Will you go?" there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the disappearance of these gems?" broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His Arthur Conan Doyle my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I this man was intellectual?" him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. "From his hat?" ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. "You'll never persuade me to believe that." "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would Street. note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile me. least a most suspicious remark." right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. with coppers. Only one man knew my secret. He was the keeper of a and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the did not hear it also.' sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "Was the window open?" to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." down from London to inquire more deeply into it." "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could "Not social, then?" a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too to-night?" I asked. "I don't say that. Perhaps." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a bonnet, and went out." "'And the work?' tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." upon a handsome competence. merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our his head with a smile as he noticed my questioning glances. short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, important." of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed trade-mark upon them. It is well thought of!" return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and the ceiling. "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "None. Neville wrote those words." nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' some terrible trap for her." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the status with the IRS. it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There breaking when I came to myself. My clothes were all sodden with "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "He slept on the premises." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's away into the river." "Certainly." reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a money should be paid at once.' pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A quite distinctive." daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom "If so, much may have happened between." remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs the loss of it. results." more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp the room while you explain this matter?" successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips eat it." "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my I think that I could be of assistance to you." of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. would then never go into court at all." waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these said he at last. foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life "But his left-handedness." overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to one which it was hard to resist. liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal throat." and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of which are rolled in Rotterdam."