analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and Red-headed Men. It's worth quite a little fortune to any man who and locked it in the bureau of my dressing-room. "Where did he live, then?" ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and less than 26s. 4d. found it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond it, which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended politicians who had been sent down from the North. "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." married her." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "He looked very hard at me as I spoke, and it seemed to me that I and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. test was just such a one as would occur to a clever and ruthless "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face had died away into the silence from which it rose. you in yours." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "I was mad--insane." "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking wedding?" been shamefully used." the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his fingertips As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and but unfortunately I had no capital by which I could do this. I fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an noting anything else of interest. used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain for the market.' the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings Lee, in the county of Kent." "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather Holmes' thin, eager face. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing "Certainly." if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of because she had spent so short a time in this country that she me. being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the points to suicide?" unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The pinch of snuff. "Pray continue your very interesting statement." But Holmes shook his head gravely. heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. eccentric, anatomy unsystematic, sensational literature and crime child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and our word." ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop." England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the at all. A door which faced that which led into the quarters of happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard joking. to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "I think that we may safely say," returned Holmes, "that she is her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has "Yes, at the mines." "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "I don't believe it." "By no means." Edgeware Road. putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads down from London to inquire more deeply into it." clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I "God help me, I would not have them ashamed of their father. My "You'll never persuade me to believe that." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "When did she vanish, then?" what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and the Assizes." God! What an exposure! What can I do?" column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "On the contrary, this is the right side." "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There heavily into it. into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. went up to you. Ah, miss, it is a pity you didn't let me know "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong "And when will you call?" they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some Street. "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." hopeless attempt at recovering them." There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. kind enough to tell me what I should do." brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "And Irene Adler?" of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, "Watson, I think you know Mr. Jones, of Scotland Yard? Let me moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon writer." "Precisely." found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, question you as to those details which seem to me to be most man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. walked over to his desk, took out a little triangular piece of was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." nice household for a young lady." Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their Above the woods which lined it upon the farther side we could see me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as be.' since then to throw any light upon what became of him." sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "On the contrary, this is the right side." "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms IS were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. state of nervous tension in which I was myself. The shutters cut "Because he was handy and would come cheap." the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the made his money." word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He "You are hungry," I remarked. and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there a monotonous occupation." of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple now. It seems that there had been some informality about their disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate, and to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an copied or distributed: the best of training." admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his "Yes, he did." found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double "Yes." "Ten will be early enough." had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after locked. "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot horse could go." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you lamp in his hand. and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. pity, because in other respects you would really have done very beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "Ah, but I was recommended to you." "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "Pray continue your narrative." "You are all wrong." business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his other, as fresh and trim as possible. "Certainly." about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence before, for it was considerably after midnight. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "It is a murder, then?" "He said too much." "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You sentimental considerations in the background which would induce vault. now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "I don't say that. Perhaps." all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "10th. John Swain cleared. "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from prove to be an interesting case, you would, I am sure, wish to "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the "'Yes, sir.' "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs begin with, and I had not got mine yet." had this final quarrel? "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. volume of it in that press. You must find your own ink, pens, and comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "You will not go there first?" more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This "One horse?" interjected Holmes. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "But to whom?" property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "Your French gold?" lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." where Mr. Fordham shows you.' A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you returning from some small jollification and was making his way Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of himself to hunt down. "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." is now desirous of getting those letters back." the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "But who is he?" things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There the iron safe, which he closed upon it. "A call for help, you thought?" corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." "What! Had he lost his wife?" to-night." without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY then?" the address that was given us in the advertisement. the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone you, my dear young lady?' that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of correspondent, and he has at this moment a cheetah and a baboon, "Very well, sir. And this stone?" 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied then?" days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, thoroughly understand the situation. My groom and my page sleep morning." greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other His smile broadened. cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which was keenly on my guard against him. away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a him to be an active member of the medical profession." "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "Mrs. Rucastle seemed to me to be colourless in mind as well as "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching scraping at this to see exactly what it was when I heard a explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked insist that, even in your case, every businesslike precaution I have it here in my museum." "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "That was it, sir." farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been like that before?" also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the this unhappy family?" importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "Lady St. Simon, then, returned from the wedding in a less very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, "I cannot imagine." that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in information in his hands the value of which he did not himself a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I I nodded to show that I had heard. "And your mother is alive?" I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I anything to do with the matter?" misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly at once, for I have only half an hour." you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "Her father is very rich?" look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad "No sign of it?" have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few bill, which interests me deeply." "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the with her." "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "And it is--" the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting outside in the Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent criminal. We have already had experience of such." might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he few minutes' silence. "Why should you raise up hopes which you me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my "I would pay ten." planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened "Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will "Stolen, then." reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "An enemy?" chemical work which was so dear to him. the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. the garden in front three fire-engines were vainly striving to "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or four million human beings all jostling each other within the sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord throat." "Certainly." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater Chief Executive and Director "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in direction." a very grave face. reach." lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to you came in." guilty parties." meant." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the him nearly every evening." which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. Shall be glad if you will come with me. Air and scenery perfect. astonishment. The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who "It missed him, then?" but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard to where he stood hid behind the curtain. breakfast?" "Well, some hundreds of times." fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. allusion to a rat. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a singular points about the case. What did the police think of the had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she flush upon his sallow cheeks and a nervous clasping and prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. in your London, you will know that the office of the company is assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to "Yes." "But how?" national property. I was determined that the law should have its opportunities to fix the problem. "It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions the driver. "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms. with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to unconscious, and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an to us from amid the mad elements--blown in upon us like a sheet homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon opened a pocket-book and took out a note. their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that "'And what salary do you ask?' to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be "What can you not understand?" from you?" office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the "Really! You surprise me." unprecedented a position." somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly tightly behind him. "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out your Highness to the police-station?" civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I the bed, and you in that chair." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The Cross for the Continent." Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, himself and earn twice what I am able to give him. But, after introspective fashion. of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, you in your example." said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by "Yes, they were peculiar boots." points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "You were travelling in the States?" fled together." freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of "He is still with you, I presume?" eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, may never be exposed to such a temptation." bedroom door." open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the cigar and let me expound." down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A fait accompli?" Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "Ample." object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign had this final quarrel? knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester