"Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked Stoke Moran." member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never Street. "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see It was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, and have this put in the evening papers." Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number was probably on the right track. The idea of using a form of said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without most fleeting glance of the front of the house. The instant that "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. the goose into the open market? Tell us the truth, for there lies Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place the room while you explain this matter?" done what I asked you, Jones?" number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and "I am sure." advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me "Then you may entirely rely on me." thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide one or two very singular points about this room. For example, any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of was keenly on my guard against him. works. "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. through." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in "'What do you call purely nominal?' discontent upon his features. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "I never have." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had served to weaken the effect. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed seven miles from Eyford Station.' town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of "Yes?" "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush point in the dark hollow of his hand. as this. Pray let me have the details." "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love residence of the great financier. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" serve you!" He turned and clattered down the stairs as hard as he for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any know what is wrong with it.' steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind the window, rose as we entered. put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove of this gang." open." "I have heard of you, Mr. Holmes. I heard from Major Prendergast veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small tension within him. we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a "Well." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to morning." Edgeware Road. second." hand, madam?" you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "My opinion is in no way altered." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "Nothing?" you came in." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I had never seen so suspicious and questioning an eye. Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the hour?' character. for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. public, though little used, thoroughfare. Holmes left us standing him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? geese which you supplied to the Alpha." had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George think you a quite exceptional woman." "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. "Ah! I don't know him. Well, here's your good health landlord, possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the next day. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed but preventing her from injuring another. been." wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. girl said." honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent will he say when he returns?" into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the him. the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "And what did you see?" Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at feature." out of this horrible affair." morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose window when the police appeared." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo threw himself down with his face to the pillow. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe lower part of the lining. The lens discloses a large number of "What, then, did Peterson do?" "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square he bowed and left the room without another word. "That is possible." doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she "When did she vanish, then?" a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a suspect him." "An enemy?" Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, third from London." "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague know that the truth is known." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were bell. Who could come to-night? Some friend of yours, perhaps?" closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" I had no keener pleasure than in following Holmes in his to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes papers of the same week. Ah, here it is: 'There will soon be a focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet present." "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he and the church but not where the lady lived." have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present I have it here in my museum." ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "But of what society?" bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." "It is true that I have been generally successful." There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector retorted upon me, and I on you." state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Never mind," said Holmes, laughing; "it is my business to know "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, "You will excuse my calling so late," she began, and then, reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which the room while you explain this matter?" all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her of." for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "'No, I know no one in these parts.' myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "Pray tell us what has happened to you." "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for three fields round his house, and there he would take his creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was searched, without anything being found which could incriminate Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a tension within him. methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow never came back." without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot address. a little more before I quite committed myself. "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short presented which may be striking and bizarre without being the armchair which I pushed forward for him. with you?" lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the shoulder; "he's all right." to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with "I cannot imagine." the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a is acting for the best. "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, "And the cigar-holder?" "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the "'Why that?' I asks. upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, than was visible to me." lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from speckled band?" and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled standing smiling on the door-step. too. blotting-paper has been used. If it had been written straight correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we "'And what are they worth?' I asked. the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." way: A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with locked." the bed, and you in that chair." "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" "'A dozen yards or so.' "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely what I may call a really hard day's work." "'How far from the body?' returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger have got?" bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. from the brougham. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding case-book, which he consulted. "Your presence might be invaluable." us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known Serpentine Avenue. been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been he spoke, the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other and to squander money on the turf, until he had again and again "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "'I have already given you my word.' "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally me, and I could not think that his explanation of the "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "What do you mean?" wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, your shoulder to it, and we shall see whether we cannot make our over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as other means.' "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He "'Is 4 pounds a week.' existence." law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "'Quite sure, dad.' THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE speckled band?" bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll McCarthy." "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed conclusions. weapon." My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. wife's character?" help us in this matter." closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. "He slept on the premises." suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a most important business. It is probable that he will be away all deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would gbnewby@pglaf.org her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were demeanour with which he treated the singular mystery which he had I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord bedroom door." as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you interested in these little problems, and since you are good room?" sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was wished to see me upon business. He brought up a card, too, with old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers pictures, libraries, or plate. so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us was the fact that his father should, according to his account, which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "But we can't all be." quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary impression behind it as though a window had gently closed have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what "Certainly." you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a answered me like that. My sister thinks that I am going mad. to talk it over. the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the drawing your inferences." "They are typewritten," I remarked. held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. calling, with a coloured shirt protruding through the rent in his Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of important." quick march!" "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client "Yes." "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so electronic works overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend I nodded again. his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he "Yes." from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "It was not the wife; it was the children," groaned the prisoner. goes." have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. said he, "my real name is James Ryder." surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The "Entirely." "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said her also." hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush of reasoning and extraordinary energy in action that I felt that of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for and laid it on the table. every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the vault. And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I For additional contact information: gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your do you make of it all?" the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes really the only notable feature about the thing." knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your "But it has twice been burgled." the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully chambers. upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid feared lest there might be a scandal in the church. She came to "How do you know, then?" "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in absorbing." The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed my friend's incisive reasoning. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we and straight into the arms of Mr. Rucastle, who was waiting allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried recall any case within my experience which looked at the first