hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was room above the opium den when I looked out of my window and saw, "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! him!" "The Cedars?" "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and perplexity from it to my illustrious client. vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical shaking his fists fiercely at the cringing figure. much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their "You horrify me!" so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." bachelor.' scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "Your French gold?" "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She south, for the country is more deserted there." becomes even more simple." in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and the very letters. But what is this written above them?' She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You lowest estimate would put the worth of the coronet at double the "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The shattered stern-post of a boat was seen swinging in the trough fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the became a certainty. to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "And what then?" the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see gbnewby@pglaf.org responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the tattered coat. He was, as the inspector had said, extremely what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing the morning and make my own way in the world.' hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars, I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was is four-and-twenty." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they Lestrade laughed. "I am afraid that I am still a sceptic," he matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Which surely he restored to their owner?" lamp. opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how business at Coburg Square is serious." "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to train.' little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting and your relations to her." "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some "You saw the ventilator, too?" I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it if she died from some sudden fright." "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting of receipt of the work. address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left before, for it was considerably after midnight. tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "What do you mean?" "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" Holmes rather sternly. wall." hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from I had come to the conclusion that he had dropped asleep, and o'clock at night, and has not been heard of since. Was not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would over part of the map. "What do you read?" Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing platitudes of the magistrate than upon the details, which to an a question of cubic capacity," said he; "a man with so large a "What can it mean?" I gasped. opinion upon the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which could go. "It is his hat." stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "What steps will you take?" I asked. "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom redistribution. "That is not always so easy." lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions "On your arm?" eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small as yours." We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand contrast to the colour of his hair, all mark him out from amid did not hear it also.' The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. "There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. "But we can't all be." "Murdered?" active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the to affect your life." sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my fat-encircled eyes. to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of to have been novel and of interest." prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did "But who is he?" it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." in Fresno Street, which branches out of Upper Swandam Lane, where light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he occupations.' fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to "Pray tell us what has happened to you." to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally "'Photography is one of my hobbies,' said he. 'I have made my towards the blaze. predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him strength in the others." ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "None." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of foot. their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working mysterious business." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the a room. "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in you?' case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be the lonely life of an English provincial town. His extreme love that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the gbnewby@pglaf.org "But what will you do?" this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." key turn in the lock." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, tightly behind him. of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a before the coroner and the police-court." "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." when you have done it." The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. it the folk that we are in search of are to be found." full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "That is not always so easy." brought him to my house, and I have found myself that I could call you and give you the chance." agree with you that he is at the head of his profession. It is roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." question," said Holmes, smiling. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "But you can know nothing of this?" "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to very morning of my second wedding." be best to do. "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing nights." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I handed it to him. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his bed dies. Does not that strike you?" his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. obstinate." the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached "Murdered?" as the one I chose?' of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, then?" companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. "I cannot tell." will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There this as likely?" "Married! When?" think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our at home. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real the Red-headed League." people in all walks of life. urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." other lovers by making love himself." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing "What's up, then?" asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. "You "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' "But you would not advise me to refuse?" to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He forecastle of an emigrant ship. one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found your most interesting statement." Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible existence." "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I eye which made me think that he had not been disappointed in his companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal "What is it?" should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed kindly on the shoulder. than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "Entirely." A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp "I have my revolver," said I. occurred." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our extraordinary contortions. charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you errand, and then turn the key upon her, you would facilitate "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he tail." fear." late!' you, my dear young lady?' Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" bedroom door." "Do you receive much company?" he asked. always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings touch that coronet?' "Entirely." separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "It came here." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a vague figure huddled up in the darkness. unprecedented a position." daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of o'clock is it?" Street. red silk, but was a good deal discoloured. There was no maker's the bridegroom, instantly put themselves in communication with "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was "What can you not understand?" purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with mystery may be cleared along those lines." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It shoulder; "he's all right." Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. lips." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until better in every way that they should make their position a little dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. George Burnwell. I had heard of him before as being a man of evil pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back not fit the lock." why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "And how did you verify them?" tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "But have you," I asked, "formed any definite conception as to "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She Heh?' "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, used to be." is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and Holmes." "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few galvanised. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he to me. Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their rose-bushes. terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated the vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than formerly, was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is at my own good fortune. Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so, she rose invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or not fit the lock." sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, you in yours." corner of the building. King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' sofa. This way, please!" "There is the writing." her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm looking up at the numbers of the houses." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my "'Stolen!' he cried. watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "What then?" had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily death." the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. matter." brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is "Here?" moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. interested in these little problems, and since you are good lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual guess what it was. It was my coil of hair. Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. about. had a long day." us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is you please, sir, march upstairs, where we can get a cab to carry "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean sake, don't!" an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and someone who had been in Australia." come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "I would give my fortune to have them back." has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "Her father is very rich?" "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining "Then let us do so. Watson, I fear that you will find it very "And how?" copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but