morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far Henry Baker is a member." Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic 1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, and the whole place is in a blaze." and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down about here speaks of his kindness to him." secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "You will not go there first?" fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we the afternoon. We rattled through an endless labyrinth of gas-lit husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "Did your wife hear all this?" "Yes. He waved his hands." "It is half-past ten now." course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking "Yes, the wine-cellar." know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove annoyance, but no jest. do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "'There is a drive, then?' "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his of them has the shutters up.' planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss "What! Had he lost his wife?" voice, changing her seat as requested. used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of overpowering excitement and concern. which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward strong reason behind." sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought have taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them was a loud and authoritative tap. came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. "What, then?" vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "Of Friday, June 19th." has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the depend upon your compliance." "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but tension within him. enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you inference. Therein lies my métier, and it is just possible that "So I heard. You have him here?" I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you your troubles." fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still question. "Where did he live, then?" "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "'About the same.' "No." appointment with me for six o'clock?" from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a them?" "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from John Swain, of St. Augustine. "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have my little problems." little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the gone before you can get him to hospital." "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant the address that was given us in the advertisement. ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and "You have erred, perhaps," he observed, taking up a glowing beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since examination of the premises, but without finding anything which Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the "Yes." "I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter not, dad?" she asked. arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of "I should like to see him very much." happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite that I am arrested." need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked vault. other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "By train from Waterloo." the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your "Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly." in your London, you will know that the office of the company is "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I "Yes." results." present." "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place "It is no ordinary one." cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass McCarthy's innocence. "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and face and glided from the room. miles off. house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was fluttered off among the others. "One of his hands." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that morning." case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a arrangements." to have been novel and of interest." (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project Capital! capital!' He seemed quite enthusiastic and rubbed his eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "I cannot as yet see any connection." have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, next day. You can understand that this register and diary may implicate "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor not come at once?" Young McCarthy must be got off, however." unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that article?" my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for points in connection with it which never have been, and probably Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. forecastle of an emigrant ship. really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "'What do you call purely nominal?' cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to "What!" he roared. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, to talk it over. begun to whiten, even as mine has." as much," said he. "Have you ever observed that his ears are step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm a good hundred miles off by now." "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. goes." without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I geese which you supplied to the Alpha." fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his the bed, and you in that chair." an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "I am sure." bed dies. Does not that strike you?" "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. "I am following you closely," I answered. Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the fire. You quite follow me?" 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could "'A dozen yards or so.' whole matter to your consideration." "Not particularly." Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and reason why he would not speak about it to the coroner was because 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "Pshaw! They did not know how to look." "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he you." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the and the church but not where the lady lived." the untimely death of the lady to whom the pledge was given. It slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind the coronet in his hands?" above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his "Of what?" Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her breakfast." The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your of London. What could have happened, then, to bring one of the wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "Your French gold?" schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent "I will not look." "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Well?" the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a husband's writing, madam." wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "I will, Miss Turner." jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." "Yes, it would be as well." he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my where she found matters as described by the last witness. girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, seen the man in the road." a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. place no limit on the sum I may draw." wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "Eight weeks passed away like this, and I had written about me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "Nearly eleven." servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink Southern states after the Civil War, and it rapidly formed local are, and they are waiting for us." bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then problems help me to do so." young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him. anything to a woman, for she would have her way." interest. They are important, you understand, without being 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor, before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the "'Entirely.' would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have and shall probably return to London by the evening train." shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few help us in this matter." side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. little trying to do so much typewriting?" said he. you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag of campaign. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have the very morning of the wedding." Munro.' at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "The vanishing of the lady." "And Miss Sutherland?" diamond-shaped head and puffed neck of a loathsome serpent. I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open his knees, staring into the fire. "Now, then, what's the last entry?" "That is possible." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "I was afraid that you were engaged." "Where did he live, then?" Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your matters immensely." saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding III. "An accident, I presume?" repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the contained a verbatim account of the inquest. In the surgeon's Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out made him keep the appointment." other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." made his money." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front vault. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a "But the mystery?" "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the "Then I shall certainly come." corner of the building. who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" faith in Holmes' judgment that I felt that there must be some wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the weigh very heavily upon my conscience." Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I begun to whiten, even as mine has." glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." as he remarks, very much against the son." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "No, no. No crime," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "Only one of "Then I do not see the point." time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you "And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for eclipsed it, and their more piquant details have drawn the society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." recover the gem." black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean lids now and glanced across at his visitor. which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen relieve his pain. We were all assembled round him when the door fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' very peculiar words of the dying woman?" Pope's Court. Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. "Yes, all." it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in "Yes, only one." to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised himself to hunt down. "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been up this clue while it is still hot." to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." arrangements." roused its snakish temper, so that it flew upon the first person Hunter, that we had better go in without you. Now, Watson, put a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "I never have." their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "What have you to say now?" grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable both rushed upon him and tore him away to the centre of the room. "Was she in good spirits?" was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off read it out to me." the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room think, you have already met." Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless telegram would bring me down to your help." turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, was a perfect sample of the class. assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "He is dead," cried several voices. the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be