"So I am. Very much so." Clair, of Lee." and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' the night.' refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to upon an income of about 60 pounds." there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will events, Mr. Windibank!" fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "Absolutely none." "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular "I was afraid that you were engaged." "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, will he say when he returns?" his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "No." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far the King without delay." plantation.' "What I expected to see." shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be this Miss Turner." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which article?" side. after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will "My photograph." very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the place no limit on the sum I may draw." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both ear. From under this great panoply she peeped up in a nervous, burst into a hearty fit of laughter. no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." formed some opinion?" "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or matters immensely." typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or to lie." until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There down the stairs together. We had hardly reached the hall when we Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew "I will try. What is it?" breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no been." compunction about shooting them down." "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in "At half-wages, in fact." "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, upon a handsome competence. said he. Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal recover the gem." fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. fear." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch The note was undated, and without either signature or address. editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number friend's singular character. need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no surprised at his own arrest, or feigned indignation at it, I he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "In San Francisco, a year ago." To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize as if it were merely a case of a proposal and all else would The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both next day. fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements out." once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "But she will refuse." an hour. How long they seemed, those quarters! Twelve struck, and came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Certainly, madam." "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "But we can't all be." country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the stump of a candle. Then he turned down the lamp, and we were left lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. window when the police appeared." that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "That is it on the dressing-table." upon an income of about 60 pounds." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower was there to see that I got fairly to work. He started me off ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they derbies." company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. "'Yes.' impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who more solid." disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 him. conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock "'Yes.' "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the "'Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help?' knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he and then rubbed it twice vigorously across and down the days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It empty. "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack "Certainly." snow from his shoes. "I believe I have the honour of addressing Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much "Where did you address your letters, then?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. "He said that you could solve anything." "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet bore every mark of being an average commonplace British minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" ready to-morrow?' of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of advice." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be reach." and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought could go. "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may Holmes' face clouded over. an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the unkempt, staring out at me. cigars in their mouths. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped business." destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "You saw the ventilator, too?" have had none more fantastic than this." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, in high spirits. "It is a little off the beaten track, isn't it?" are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and you." hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon be there in time for your coming." brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly "Yes, that is the Crown." narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair the room while you explain this matter?" minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet "He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a said Holmes, and in a few words he sketched out what had "'That is quite correct,' I answered; 'but you will excuse me if "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, apparelled, but had refused to credit that it was his mistress, room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off interest. They are important, you understand, without being points in connection with it which never have been, and probably weigh very heavily upon my conscience." the ceiling. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime distance from the station, and there we found the young lady "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who tapping his fingers upon the table. followed. object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past and prosperity to your house. Good-night." searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "He slept on the premises." invisible to me," I remarked. law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of because she had spent so short a time in this country that she Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the That is the only drawback which we have found to her, but we silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of "'Here we are, Jack,' says he, touching me on the arm; 'we'll be see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. in this way: very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were good-night and bustled off upon her way. that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is the driver. when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I "I am glad of all details," remarked my friend, "whether they watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "ARAT," I read. "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he spare." cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "And leave your case unfinished?" "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can your Highness to the police-station?" do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New comes from the middle window." strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed morning." "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' "What then?" your hair. I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so occupations.' about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to country, and eventually married, without anyone having a "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was certainly not very gracious." said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened this remarkable episode. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of I seated myself in his armchair and warmed my hands before his Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and business." step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." about one of the servants' escapade with her wooden-legged lover, questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his conversation I have gathered that they have been married about above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, "'I shall certainly be there.' It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble through." "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right return. The second is that the murdered man was heard to cry "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be clock ticking loudly somewhere in the passage, but otherwise which should have the effect of calling the attention of the annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such "But of what society?" never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and the coroner come to?" brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been "I am in hopes that she does." father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked was a lad." from the ship last night. I had it from the stevedore who has of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other light and attacked it." at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. affection." "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "I am very much afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me we went to search for him, face downward in a little "'Which dealer's?' "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather "Have they thought of looking outside the house?" point our research must commence, and we will begin it by "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." redistribution. clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right "If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he You can understand that this register and diary may implicate autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed know what is wrong with it.' fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of "I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?" "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. plain questions, to which I beg that you will give a plain photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! matter." that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from gbnewby@pglaf.org have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera other means.' passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it "It was a confession," I ejaculated. while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing "I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before "Your presence might be invaluable." own grounds. A stable-boy had run out to the horse's head, and lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an "Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "The Cedars?" read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. wickedness of the human heart. You may advise me how to walk amid "Look there!" said he. "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with turning in her direction and wondering what strange side-alley of will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the amused." "An enemy?" "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out best detective that ever lived. you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than that I can to serve you." named Hosmer Angel. About five ft. seven in. in height; "It is true that I have been generally successful." the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some his injuries. He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and look upon these things in a different way." folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "In which, sir?" "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which once more. thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended was a loud and authoritative tap. black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated seemed quite exaggerated in its vehemence. They were waiting for would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly said Miss Stoner, laying her hand upon my companion's sleeve. saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether my foot over the door-mat. In that way I didn't know much of what as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the there is a decided draught." been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "My opinion is in no way altered." nice household for a young lady." tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we "By all means." nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out orange pips. was not a bird to be seen there. "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "Well?" 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, excitement. peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will "It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock, her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a my little problems." which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. stammered. acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. "Yes." copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons best detective that ever lived. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of just come at the right time. Is that your hat, Mr. Baker?" touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in directors have had misgivings upon the subject." be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns "But the mystery?" The events in question occurred in the early days of my column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." one of them." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question peculiar to him. very much upon the position in which I met it. If I lay on my think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "You horrify me." position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "Here?" woman." branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "Yes, the wine-cellar." unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two stalked out of the room. has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the reference to the matter at all, either in word or writing?' one else, I think." he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You business?" her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so "And the murderer?" "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what companion. dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her me, and I could not think that his explanation of the "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never