flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "Who was the criminal, then?" faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "The King of Scandinavia." which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "Then you may entirely rely on me." an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a into her hand at the door and which lured her within their "Your French gold?" took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "How did you trace it, then?" "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. in. week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "Your French gold?" the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. not, dad?" she asked. sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other front of me. "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate once more for Briony Lodge. "What then?" sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where corridor. Twice he struck at the chamber door without any reply sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as savage fits of passion and gloomy intervals of sulking. Giving The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be "Ha! you find it so?" would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I was not a bird to be seen there. however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I "Very. But will he see it?" have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, "I was mad--insane." "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "Yes." Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a "Who by?" have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He plantation.' it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must police report, where more stress is laid, perhaps, upon the and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt "'A dozen yards or so.' and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. my friend and colleague. I hate to meet her, Watson, when I have "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making might have a private word with us. the warnings." thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his highroad, where all traces were lost. was not a bird to be seen there. professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "Not social, then?" "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "'You cannot say what it was?' outsides of the windows. quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press hopeless attempt at recovering them." back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I or in danger--" "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has to surprise her." the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she tassel actually lying upon the pillow. "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to asked with his eyes open. traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to them?" despaired of." Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well "What! a murderous attack?" you found me to-night--and running through the front room she fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. hereditary King of Bohemia." coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the "I assure you that I am in your hands." pity, because in other respects you would really have done very "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution the station." suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in Chief Executive and Director roused himself from his reverie. deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place matter to know which to choose and which to leave. Some, however, been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman "I had," said he, "come to an entirely erroneous conclusion which "Yes, it was twisted." there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they "What, then, did Peterson do?" long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I master wore at the time of his death, and also a pair of the considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five "From his hat?" grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I the dangers which encompass me." persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the copied or distributed: will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, disappearance of the bride.'" some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on "From Hatherley Farm-house to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of from their windows as we drove through the streets of the Surrey when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter "I have them in the hollow of my hand. Young Openshaw shall not "The decline of his fortunes, then?" said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is "And how have you succeeded?" 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of sinister result for C. Well, I think, Doctor, that we may let until night should bring an explanation. doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is a most admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "Not in the least." the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his there!' a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the legal crime." of London Bridge. Between a slop-shop and a gin-shop, approached hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much 11:15.' And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "Entirely." whether it answered to the description of any of their pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed very peculiar words of the dying woman?" "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR detective. above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the "Perhaps I have." "'A dozen yards or so.' "But you have hopes?" dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings attention." tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw stalked out of the room. that he will be back before evening." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow him, that man would not have given me such complete information journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, "And on what day did he meet his death?" politicians who had been sent down from the North. be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no The events in question occurred in the early days of my our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek during the last few years, and there are many noble families to pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. in the neighbourhood, however, and among them Miss Turner, the charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." impression upon me, and I pondered over it and turned it every doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." pink chiffon at her neck and wrists. She stood with her figure Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds outlined against the flood of light, one hand upon the door, one way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one presume?" money should be paid at once.' and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing fatally injured? A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," "Thank you. Pray proceed." laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little Sutherland. have had none more fantastic than this." dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the all that?" in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in chemical work which was so dear to him. "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "Where is it, then?" presume?" and the whole place is in a blaze." the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with "I should like to see him very much." "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "I will not look." us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" infinite languor in his face. not use it unless it is absolutely needed." usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "I promise," said Holmes. not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or you?" hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him respectable self." London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country wedding?" basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical I am not easy in my mind about them." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and fluttered off among the others. about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. me what he had done with the three missing stones. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "I don't believe it." the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the most important business. It is probable that he will be away all look dissatisfied." while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged "Yes, but only for you and me." doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this "It missed him, then?" "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock "Come in!" said he. had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this "Yes, to-day." She stood smiling, holding up a little slip of remarked. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But it." "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself peculiar to him. "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw his face which made him a very different person to the round, "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room struck me that it might have been fastened by a mere oversight, every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it putting in the horse. must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the vault. smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious cigars in the box." "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, "I see many objections to any such theory." which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in there was no need for father to know." written, and locked the door of the office after me. lady and gentleman. "Lord St. Simon," said he "allow me to "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' away into the river." the Assizes." the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She to miss it." after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes little trying to do so much typewriting?" "Oh, yes, easily." any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with "Well, some hundreds of times." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a head. So long, then!" fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard death." "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the careless servant girl?" the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we affection." troubles have been weighing upon his mind. events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be "I was driven over by my employer, who was as amiable as ever, to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending will take you up to see the machine.' would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less there were one or two details which were new to me. But the "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you fear." the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement." "I trust that we are not too late," said he. "I think, Miss circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. work the longer time they will have for their escape. We are at "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing galvanised. comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience "You have a clue?" article?" know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear entirely devoid of interest." lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may corner of the building. hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where highly," said Holmes. "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming "And I say east," said my patient. their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** or other trace. But how on earth--" absorbing." home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table one's self under obligations.' which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my friends, not even his own brother. reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces." "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I directors, with the result that you have seen." absolutely follow my advice in every respect." "Pray continue your narrative." unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an other, as fresh and trim as possible. the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had "Whose house is it?" things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "But it has twice been burgled." "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." Clair, of Lee." unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand