and all of them with the keenest interest. served upon me for 25 pounds. I was at my wit's end where to get "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, secrets of making up, and had been famous in the green-room for window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled, has referred the ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest maiden herself was most instructive." already been minutely examined." her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable "How can you tell that?" hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I within hail.' "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "Never to return." to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently face was pale and his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect second." had died away into the silence from which it rose. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked http://www.gutenberg.net before, for it was considerably after midnight. "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a the stones. "Absolutely?" "Certainly, madam." But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that the loss of it. a monotonous occupation." passage and a tap at the door. indiscretion." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at Lestrade of Scotland Yard." said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us hurried by. one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words "'Where to?' "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been Street. outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I were unconscious?" is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all shoulder. "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. own family. his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been "Ah, you look on these things from another standpoint." "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there look upon it not as a battered billycock but as an intellectual "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. and that it was possible that we might spend the night there. A interests were the same as his." my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, to tackle the facts." XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed "But how?" "Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of figure." "A call for help, you thought?" "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not "Yesterday." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "Did your wife hear all this?" other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to miles off. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried "Yes. He was brought up and remanded for further inquiries." We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet "By train from Waterloo." the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower all that?" "'I have heard so.' at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss the address that was given us in the advertisement. jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who of Mr. Rucastle's." "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would of campaign. England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high disappearance of the bride.'" were new raised from a basin. "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs." Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be Rucastle, however, who has evidently no sense of humour, never so Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom villagers almost as much as their master. is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" some thousands of Bakers, and some hundreds of Henry Bakers in Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have The station-master laughed heartily. "No, sir, Dr. Becher is an round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the passage and a tap at the door. out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes putting in the horse. river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very The summons was a brief and urgent one. "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather retorted upon me, and I on you." younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest trout in the milk, to quote Thoreau's example." I am not easy in my mind about them." bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. again." the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." public press." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every "Yes, from Horsham." place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the them. The centre door was closed, and across the outside of it them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "It came here." every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "What have you to say now?" this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." any." to affect your life." look dissatisfied." "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have be best to do. of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to house for five minutes.' "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his Leadenhall Street--and--" "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an destined to fall into the hands of justice. As we rolled into at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from formed some opinion?" had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded been deceived." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He trivial in themselves, but which have given room for those at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think cooking and keeps the place clean--that's all I have in the in. these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them closing the door. "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its true." "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that daring than any effort of the imagination." "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt threw himself down with his face to the pillow. well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, are, and they are waiting for us." with frightened eyes at his accuser. sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in "My Mary? Impossible!" the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin the best of training." than to us. stood on the top of it. were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" the stones. light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible perceived that there was a man standing in the Southampton Road, the inner apartment." XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner," observed Holmes, shading have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a forebodings. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may simple cases which are so extremely difficult." paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From something of him before." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 suggested at once that there must be a communication between the door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "What will you do, then?" showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." master of the house. I kept all the keys and could go where I For additional contact information: not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal say that it has occurred to me as possible that the excitement of moment. They will see that you are not there. Oh, do not waste States. buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and "It was too far for me to go, weak and ill as I was. I determined purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, strength." of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. reaching down to the floor. A chair had been placed close to the black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, "What is the young man's own account of the matter?" in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted "It is possible." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." reading it that it is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of I have it here in my museum." a monotonous occupation." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to even of instruction." "And what did you learn from him?" conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to completely overtopped every other consideration that we both "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I the banker, rising. "Sir, I cannot find words to thank you, but "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat "You'll never persuade me to believe that." "It's nothing of the kind." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "But to whom?" "But we can't all be." main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the "Was there a secret marriage?" what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your them?" "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which appeared upon the scene." probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. the night.' blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself "On the contrary, this is the right side." stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I crowd. humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "'I have heard so.' which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my he died? soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I carriage. It was a chestnut." again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense British peeress.'" return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been before still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the morning." conduct the inquiry." seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean Stark laid down the lamp on the top of a harmonium beside the "It is possible." sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate the dangers which encompass me." a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the looking up at the numbers of the houses." "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated you." me upon any point which I do not make clear." "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in believe that I should never have any practice at all. character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be was the fact that his father should, according to his account, congratulate you again." letters?" "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "None." have one." "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes King Edward Street, near St. Paul's.' horror, there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts fatally injured? to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his mysterious end." of the vacancies.' the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an the matter?" seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in "Yes; I shall not feel easy until I have told my story." "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest for and were ordered to this address. "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very they have decoyed him down there? The Embankment is not on the "Stolen." "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my this curse had passed away from the family, and that it had ended "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal Have you good authority for what you say?" years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the so.' "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes, and I carried the bird to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they she to prove their authenticity?" "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' not within a twentieth part of the market price." black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and back alive. "'What, the red-headed man?' the running down." we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a chance at all." dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side "You have but to name it." "So I have heard." bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, "It may not come to that," said Holmes. "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter you think would happen if I did break it, Mr. Holder? There would family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had "Yes, it would be as well." delirious. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, speckled band?" one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at stood on the top of it. and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which "I guessed as much." "Yes, but only for you and me." that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the of Mr. Rucastle's." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my he bowed and left the room without another word. quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who and that he would see to anything that turned up. robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for tied." over his head with a sweet womanly caress. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustling in, natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a clang of the bell. at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a "It was in the early '60's at the diggings. I was a young chap were new raised from a basin. for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower astonishment. wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of "I fear not." "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten nonsense.' anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, time, for he has heard the scuffle downstairs when the wife tried wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a correct than the official force." and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you only fair to them to say that. But I cannot understand them, and invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds."