body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and "It looks newer than the other things?" and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm simple cases which are so extremely difficult." success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." skylight. weighed down with some great anxiety. "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice the matter?" "You have it, sir, just as it happened." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "Was she in good spirits?" it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before way in everything. hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. your bag." pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "How can you tell that?" "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "Then I will." Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might business at Coburg Square is serious." "On Monday." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and unclasping of his long thin hands. daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. showing my impatience. I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you your most interesting statement." has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness hour." flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from danger is over." in the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "'This is my secretary and manager,' said the colonel. 'By the "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child you." British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not his face which made him a very different person to the round, "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." acquaintance?" Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you forebodings. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the right! Sit down and let us talk it over." as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while suspect him." "To an English lawyer named Norton." My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the ready to-morrow?' "I think that it is very probable." no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. salesman. least a fellow-countryman. goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things himself. 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance." of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked she has been waylaid. There has been no result." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that you found me to-night--and running through the front room she would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "You have it, sir, just as it happened." promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "You are hungry," I remarked. centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead James Windibank. Voilà tout!" tell them apart.' "It goes to the housekeeper's room." dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious it in the name of the firm, then in justice to my partner I must of water outside which receive the force, and which transmit and unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. at once, for I have only half an hour." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, seeing me and asked me rather roughly what I was doing there. A one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "They must have done so. I have a confused memory, too, of having ashen face. brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of night.' said he. "'I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.' name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me arrangements." and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you such attractions and accomplishments?' very peculiar words of the dying woman?" the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has good-night and bustled off upon her way. as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "Why, what do you mean?" clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour cheerful." repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my "It looks newer than the other things?" latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, certainly not very gracious." gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. gum, the letter K three times repeated. There was nothing else eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." house for five minutes.' did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its nights." in this note: put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "None." "It was a confession," I ejaculated. his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with fire. You quite follow me?" science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what glitter of moisture on his brow. "It--it's not actionable," he would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "And from a noble client?" young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to "Could he throw no light?" shaken than I had ever seen him. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But Gutenberg-tm License. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some for the market.' gigantic client. out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a and the whole place is in a blaze." of it with the greatest attention. "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see "'I am sure if I had known--' sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do affair. "My photograph." fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to which I served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide it back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, existence." strode off upon his way. conduct the inquiry." week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. returned to France?" had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "I have hopes." 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to course, he denied everything. But when I gave him every another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "My last client of the sort was a king." over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the From what you have told me I think that it is possible that "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "But you can know nothing of this?" these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had he died? him to be an active member of the medical profession." "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a "I must go home now, for dad is very ill, and he misses me so if She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to this truth that in these little records of our cases which you detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be "In answer to an advertisement." long narrative. came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "No, I think that I'll take it." surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. you." "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." ordinary clothes on?" clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by glance so simple and yet which presented such difficulties." stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and second." "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "'Then let me do so?' to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the true." have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend mystery!" in a friendly supper." chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace "Stoke Moran?" said he. "Will you bet, then?" will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by always that they were such commands as a lady might with fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have the stones. be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this, into her hand at the door and which lured her within their Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. geese which you supplied to the Alpha." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads it." league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had their singular warning or token before them when starting upon "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore the Assizes." trying to your nerves." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and "Yes, he did." month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has "I don't say that. Perhaps." rooms." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and was not a bird to be seen there. "That is easily got." to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Yes, there are nearly always some there." written, and locked the door of the office after me. his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "Where is it, then?" the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this money, afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he gone. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "Yes, only one." building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole "What have you done?" asked Holmes. "An enemy?" the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As she swept The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "So it appears." the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a the very morning of the wedding." permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I "Yes, he did." chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I and it need not interfere very much with one's other brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the Holmes' room. part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the safe with her; but when there was a chance of a husband coming McCarthy's innocence. may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, charged with?" "How about poison?" Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of greasy leather cap which lies upon the pavement beside him. I for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into what is your own theory as to what took place?" and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa Stoke Moran." on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are "Eh? What was that?" return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low was not a bird to be seen there. is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, for its centre. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point fait accompli?" "Oh! you have seen inside, then?" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. "I am armed." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have way: the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger Pool. of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute jewels which you have stolen?' once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in which it had come upon my father." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole good for you to do.' "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how bruise, the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by business." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" that the gas is not laid on in his house?" the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, It was not the first time that she had spoken to us of her a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence "I am so delighted that you have come," she said earnestly. "It wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend ill-usage at the hands of fortune. matter." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press how we broke the sad news to the terrified girl, how we conveyed unkempt, staring out at me. "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by "In heaven's name, what for?" at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "They seem to have been of a most interesting character--dummy "Then you may be so with me." no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking